Fleeing Wedding Showers for Epcot Flowers: My Final Morning, Finally! NEW 4/12

[norybell]

Citricos is one of my favorite on property

Mine too, now!

 

[blabbermouth]

Hi!

Just read through your whole report, glad it's just getting started so I can follow along.

What a beautiful couple you and your DH make, I love your dress, it's a lot like mine was.

Citrico's looked delish even though we didn't get to see the appies. The dessert is beautiful and sounds so good.

 

[norybell]

Hi!

Just read through your whole report, glad it's just getting started so I can follow along.

What a beautiful couple you and your DH make, I love your dress, it's a lot like mine was.

Citrico's looked delish even though we didn't get to see the appies. The dessert is beautiful and sounds so good.

Hi blabbermouth,

 

[Tribilín]

Wonderful updates norybell! I just can't believe the view you had from your room! It's amazing! And the pictures are fantastic!

 

[glennbo123]

DED Glenn! Well played!

Glad you appreciated it GB! What is "DED"?

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Great pictures! I totally hate when the order of your pictures doesn't make sense. That happens to me all the time!

as a former Dis bride, I thank you for not photobombing the wedding - that was like my biggest fear with such a public place.

What a fantastic view from your room! I totally feel you about being kind of iffy about the decor, but totally falling in love with it. What did you think about the noise? That was my one complaint about the GF - the Poly and BLT were much quieter.

Your mom looks SOOOOO familiar. Like spookily so. But I can't place it. Maybe it's from Central Park in 1994

Hmm... your review makes me want to try Citricos again. We liked it last time, but weren't wowed.

 

[norybell]

Wonderful updates norybell! I just can't believe the view you had from your room! It's amazing! And the pictures are fantastic!

Thanks, Tribilin! I have no idea when I'll ever have another chance (or "excuse") to stay at the GF again, but I tell you -- I'm gonna make it happen!

Glad you appreciated it GB! What is "DED"?

I was wondering that, too...

What a fantastic view from your room! I totally feel you about being kind of iffy about the decor, but totally falling in love with it. What did you think about the noise? That was my one complaint about the GF - the Poly and BLT were much quieter.

Our room was perfectly quiet. Like, we never heard a peep. And we're both light sleepers! I assume a lot of it's just luck, depending on exactly where your room is...I loved my room at the CR, too, but it was a lot noisier because it got a lot of pool noise in the afternoons, even though it was on a high floor. And my last room at the YC was noisy, from being next to a service elevator or something. So I'm sure it always depends! Now "Quiet room" has become my #1 room request, and it's worked out for me so far.

Your mom looks SOOOOO familiar. Like spookily so. But I can't place it. Maybe it's from Central Park in 1994

Do you spend any time in Madison, by any chance? My parents are there most weekends these days.

 

[pookersmom]

So enjoying your trip report! And now I want to stay at the GF...

Someone asked if people from Hawaii stay at the Poly. One of my best friends is from Hawaii and she likes it there, a lot. But it might be more about the food for her...

 

[norybell]

So enjoying your trip report! And now I want to stay at the GF...

Someone asked if people from Hawaii stay at the Poly. One of my best friends is from Hawaii and she likes it there, a lot. But it might be more about the food for her...

And thanks! Writing this is really making me want to go back to the GF...

My parents renewed their vows on Maui last year, and for a few nights DH (then DBF) and I snuck away from the family and went to Molokai. We stayed at the only hotel on the entire island, and it totally reminded me of the Poly - that same '70s design. Difference was, I'm not sure this place had been updated at all since then!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I love these pictures with the floats reflecting on the water and the Castle in the background...beautiful.

I never had any desire to stay at the GF until I saw your view.

 

[norybell]

I love these pictures with the floats reflecting on the water and the Castle in the background...beautiful. :cloud9

Thanks!

Sorry I've been MIA, but I have a very good excuse...I was in the World! Just got back on Saturday, and have been playing catch-up at work before delving back into the world of Trip Reports. I hope to get back to it tomorrow...need to finish this one so I can start the next one! Writing these things sure is addictive! Plus I took about 1500 pictures this time!

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Thanks!

Sorry I've been MIA, but I have a very good excuse...I was in the World! Just got back on Saturday, and have been playing catch-up at work before delving back into the world of Trip Reports. I hope to get back to it tomorrow...need to finish this one so I can start the next one! Writing these things sure is addictive! Plus I took about 1500 pictures this time!

 

[Tribilín]

Thanks!

Sorry I've been MIA, but I have a very good excuse...I was in the World! Just got back on Saturday, and have been playing catch-up at work before delving back into the world of Trip Reports. I hope to get back to it tomorrow...need to finish this one so I can start the next one! Writing these things sure is addictive! Plus I took about 1500 pictures this time!

Great news! Waiting patiently for your updates

 

[norybell]

I'm really excited to start my next TR, while this trip is all fresh in my mind -- I took a ridiculous number of notes and photos, and I can't wait to share them! Plus, I have some ideas for how to make it a bit different from my other ones.

So I think I'm just going to bang the rest of this one out, and get through it as quickly as I can!

 

[norybell]

The next morning, Mom and I were up bright and early to get to AK for rope drop. Getting my mom to love AK has been a bit of an ongoing project. She went with my baby sister the year it opened, and they were spectacularly unimpressed—I’m sure the lines were terrible, and we all know how the layout of the park can really work against you when it’s crowded. She went again the year Everest opened, and had to wait so long to ride it, she didn’t feel like it was worth it. I think she skipped the park entirely for a few trips. But the year before, I’d taken her there later in the afternoon on a quiet day. The lines were nearly nonexistent, we saw a ton of animals, and she really liked it. So this year I was hoping she’d like it even more.

We were right in front for the “Opening Show.”

Of course, we headed straight for Asia.

That’s the back of my mom’s head there, sporting the awesome pink sunhat she’d bought at the MK the day before.

We had only one destination in mind:

Everest, obviously. Not that bridge.

We got ourselves some fastpasses, then rode twice in a row, the second time in the front. What a great view from up there! My mom agreed that it may be Disney’s best roller coaster. Maybe. (She’s a big fan of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at DHS.)

After our second ride, we walked over to the Safari with the intention of collecting another set of FPs, but for some reason we decided to just hop in line, instead. We quickly realized this had been a stupid decision as we waited for what felt like a very long twenty minutes. And, sadly, we didn’t see nearly as many animals as we had the last time. Oh well.

The termite mound. Fascinating, or just plain gross? I can never quite decide.

This giraffe is demonstrating camouflage.

Then we walked the jungle trek, which was a bit too crowded for us to really enjoy.

Aw, Okapi, don’t be shy!

Look, it’s the frontside of water!

One fish two fish brown fish blue fish

This bird’s got strut.

This bird’s got bling.

He’s pondering the nature of his role in the universe, the fleetingness of life, the inner nature of hawks (why can’t we all get along), etc.

He’s not pondering anything.

We had 11:00 reservations for lunch at Yak ‘n’ Yeti, and we showed up right at 10:55. Their front doors were open, but they told us they couldn’t seat us until 11:00. So we poked around a nearby shop for a few minutes. When we returned (right at 11:00), two other groups were already ahead of us! We tried not to be annoyed that they were seated first, even though they didn’t have ADRs.

I’d eaten lunch at Y&Y during my last trip, and thought the food was good, and the atmosphere really restful. This time, we had a wonderful corner table upstairs (so we could each look out a window), but the family sitting directly next to us was LOUD. Strangely loud, considering the restaurant wasn’t busy, and there was no need to be. And they weren’t loud in a small-children-screaming way, but rather in an adults-yelling-to-be-heard-at-a-rock-concert way. Someone needed to explain to them about inside voices, when to use them (when you’re inside), etc.

We both ordered the soup to start, which was very yummy. We both love a good broth-based soup.

Wonton Soup - pork wontons, clear chicken broth and vegetables $4.99

Then we decided to split the Dim Sum basket.

Dim Sum Basket for Two - Pork pot stickers, shrimp siu mai, cha su bao, and pork sie mai steamed on a banana leaf, soy lime dipping sauce $13.99

Unfortunately, this wasn’t very good—everything in it was lukewarm and had an overly sticky consistency. The pot stickers were the best, but they still weren’t as good as pot stickers from any fast food Chinese restaurant. In general, everything tasted like it’d been sitting out for a while, which was weird considering the place just opened.

Please don’t be angry with us for disliking your shrimp siu mai!

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[norybell]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

We finished lunch by 11:30 or so, and took our time walking the Maharajah trail.

You lookin’ at me?

Why do I love taking bat pictures?

Here, kitty kitty kitty, why don’t you come a little closer?..

NOT THAT CLOSE!

Afterwards, we used our FPs for one more ride down the mountain. We were in the back row this time, and I decided I liked it even better than the front: The view isn’t quite as spectacular, but it feels so much faster! A Photopass photographer convinced us to stop on our way out; I think we look a bit worse for wear in this picture.

Some parting shots:

We debated returning to the MK—we still needed to ride It’s a Small World, my childhood favorite, after all!—but we had an early dinner, and we were feeling pretty parked out, so we decided against it. As we were waiting for the GF bus a Poly bus pulled up first, so we hopped on. The ride back seemed to take forever, partly because we had to stop at Blizzard Beach (or was it Typhoon Lagoon? Never having been to the water parks, I mix them up!). We finally arrived at the Poly, poked through the shops for a few minutes, then ambled along the path back to the GF.

The second we were back on the GF grounds, it struck us again—we loved the place. Like loved loved loved loved loved it.

I had to maintain my tradition of getting a pin for every resort I stay at (I tried to get one at POR, but they were out), so we hit the GF shops for a pin-hunt. And since they host so many weddings at the GF, they had a lot of wedding merchandise, so I had to get a wedding pin, too, didn’t I?

I actually ended up not wearing any of my pins on this trip with my mom, or on the solo trip I just got back from, either. I think I need a little piece of fabric to attach to the front of my purse, so I can wear just a few and not weight myself down too much.

Anyway, here are my pins:

We spent some time going over wedding logistics in our beautiful room, then enjoyed a glass of wine on our beautiful balcony (I cannot adequately explain how much we loved our GF balcony!), before freshening up and heading out to dinner. We had reservations at Jiko, and I was very curious to see how the dinner would go. We’d been there together the year before, and loved it, but when I went back solo last October, I thought the food had gone downhill (though I still had an amazing time and met some new WDW friends). How would it measure up this time?

We took the monorail to the MK, and a bus to AKL pulled up as soon as we got to the bus stop. Score!

Sadly, we rejoiced in our good traveling-luck far too soon. The trip took forever…there was a lot more traffic than I’ve ever encountered while on a WDW bus. When we finally got to Kidani, the bus driver literally sat there at the stop for a full ten minutes, not opening the door, because she had to pull forward about five feet and couldn’t because another bus was in front of her. It was ridiculous. The bus was stuffy and full, and at that point we were so sick of being on it, we decided to get off and walk from Kidani to Jambo. Somehow, we got kinda lost. I still have no idea how this happened. We kept expecting a useful sign around the next corner, and not finding one. After wandering aimlessly for longer than I’m proud of, we finally found the correct path.

AKL is so beautiful. I know I’ll stay there someday. My only hesitation is that it seems so far from all the parks except AK.

Of course, we had to wander outside for a little while and look at the animals.

I always feel kinda bad for these guys. Think of the back pain, carrying those heavy things around on your head all day long!

After our mini-exploration, we headed inside and checked in at Jiko. They sat us nearly immediately, at a truly awful table. So we asked to sit at the chef’s bar, instead. And while the backless stools took their toll on me after a day spent on my feet, I’m glad we moved. It’s always fun to watch the chefs, and just like last time, they slipped us a free appetizer of a savannah roll.

I’m sorry to report that I forgot to take any pictures of this meal. The funny thing was that by this time, my mom was just as into the food pictures as I was, so she was a little upset that I’d forgotten! But I can tell you we had the tibs appetizer (amazing), some asparagus soup (amazing), and the salmon special, which came with some sort of succotash (super amazing). Every bite was delicious.

We stopped in the AKL shop, and had a good time playing on all the musical instruments there. I picked up this souvenir for my soon-to-be DH:

I figured he could put it on and pretend to be a giraffe for our dog, whose favorite toy is a giraffe. Which is exactly what he did. Surprisingly to me, though, he actually liked it, dog-play aside. I didn’t get around to it on this last trip, but I plan on picking him up some more animal masks on future trips, and eventually we’ll hang them up somewhere. Does anyone know if they sell them at the AK? Or just at AKL?

We decided we weren’t up for another long commute, so we hopped in a cab. And for some reason I no longer remember, we took said cab to the Poly instead of to the GF. Maybe we were considering Wishes from the Poly beach? If that was our plan, we decided against it, and again took the walking path back to the GF.

Soon enough, we were again watching Wishes from the comfort of our balcony (wine, of course, in hand).

I was actually feeling really sad that we were going to have to leave the GF the next day. Like, borderline-tears sad (can I blame it, like so many other things, on the wedding-planning stress?). I thought there was no way the Boardwalk Inn could measure up. I was cursing myself for doing a split stay. I pretty much never wanted to leave the GF again!

 

[glennbo123]

You've done it again Nory! Another great update.

We had only one destination in mind:

Everest, obviously. Not that bridge.

This picture is gorgeous. I forget...what kind of camera are you using?

My mom agreed that it may be Disney’s best roller coaster. Maybe. (She’s a big fan of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at DHS.)

I like EE, but my vote goes to RnRC as the best.

The termite mound. Fascinating, or just plain gross? I can never quite decide.

So gross, it's fascinating.

He’s pondering the nature of his role in the universe, the fleetingness of life, the inner nature of hawks (why can’t we all get along), etc.

....just what kind of an animal Goofy is, exactly....

We had 11:00 reservations for lunch at Yak ‘n’ Yeti, and we showed up right at 10:55. Their front doors were open, but they told us they couldn’t seat us until 11:00. So we poked around a nearby shop for a few minutes. When we returned (right at 11:00), two other groups were already ahead of us! We tried not to be annoyed that they were seated first, even though they didn’t have ADRs.

That would not have sat well with me, and even less so with my wife. Uh-huh.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t very good—everything in it was lukewarm and had an overly sticky consistency. The pot stickers were the best, but they still weren’t as good as pot stickers from any fast food Chinese restaurant. In general, everything tasted like it’d been sitting out for a while, which was weird considering the place just opened.

I've eaten from the take-out window, but never in the sit-down section. Sounds like I'll wait a while longer! I haven't seen very many good reviews.

Why do I love taking bat pictures?

Me too! And I don't have the answer as to why, either.

Here, kitty kitty kitty, why don’t you come a little closer?..

NOT THAT CLOSE!

I’m sorry to report that I forgot to take any pictures of this meal. The funny thing was that by this time, my mom was just as into the food pictures as I was, so she was a little upset that I’d forgotten! But I can tell you we had the tibs appetizer (amazing), some asparagus soup (amazing), and the salmon special, which came with some sort of succotash (super amazing). Every bite was delicious.

Oh man, I would've loved to have seen some more food pictures. Oh well, I'm glad this one got a from you.

Does anyone know if they sell them at the AK? Or just at AKL?

Sorry, don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if they sold them at AK, but I don't know for sure.

Soon enough, we were again watching Wishes from the comfort of our balcony (wine, of course, in hand).

WOW! Great shot! What a view!

 

[onelilspark]

Everest, obviously. Not that bridge.

Poor bridge, it never gets any love

Walking from the Poly to the GF...just be glad you found the path! We tried walking it and we wound up next to the service entrance at the Poly

 

[norybell]

This picture is gorgeous. I forget...what kind of camera are you using?

Thanks! I have a Sony Superzoom DSC-HX1. I like it a lot, but I hope to graduate to an actual DSLR in another year or two, we'll see.

I've eaten from the take-out window, but never in the sit-down section. Sounds like I'll wait a while longer! I haven't seen very many good reviews.

I dunno, I don't mean to turn you off the place entirely! I think it probably really depends on what you order. The soup is great.

Poor bridge, it never gets any love

Walking from the Poly to the GF...just be glad you found the path! We tried walking it and we wound up next to the service entrance at the Poly

 

[brookelizabeth]

Welcome back! I look forward to reading the next TR!

Wonderful update - full of amazing pictures! So did your Mom like AK a little bit more this trip, or is she still kinda meh on it?

The picture of Wishes from your balcony is simply beautiful. I can completely understand why you didn't want to leave the GF. I hope you were still able to enjoy the BWI after that...