Going all out- A Birthday, Merry time, Land and Sea Extravaganza!

[Cali Cat]

Day 2 Part 6 Animal Kingdom



On Everest we could see the crane from Pandora again from the top.


After Everest we still had time before our fast pass for the safari so we decided to take a detour into Dinoland for Primeval Whirl.



Kitty had tried to go on it on our last trip but she wasn't tall enough. They gave her a card that would get her into the fast pass line when she was tall enough. Amazing, I kept it and managed to remember to bring it! We checked her height and she was now good to go. They signed the card and gave it back to us a keepsake.



As we were waiting I noticed a bunch of the whisk attachments from my kitchen aid.



Kitty liked the ride, but I don't think it's anything special. Just a basic mouse ride but it spins. I definitely wouldn't wait in a long line for it.


I liked the kitchi 50's Christmas tree.

Up next: Night Safari

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 2 part 7 Animal Kingdom

The sun was starting to set. That meant it was time for our Safari fast pass. I had heard that the animals were more active during sun set, so I made sure to make our fast passes for that time. When we got in the fast pass line (which was supper long again) it was announced that due to animal interactions the line would be slower then normal. They don't try to move the animals if they are blocking the trucks path, so apparently an animal was doing that while we were in line. After our longer then normal wait we finally made it on the ride and the sun had pretty much set.

It was pretty dark, but the animals were up and ready to party.



Some of them were harder to see then others.


Sorry for the blurry picture, but I had never seen the hippos out of the water before.




Our favorite part was the Lions. In the numerous times I have been on this ride I had never seen them do anything but sleep. Not this time, they were all up and interacting with each other. The male lion even hopped from rock to rock to chase our truck.



I would say that if you don't have a problem seeing in dark places, going on the Safari right after sun set is a great time to go.

After our Safari adventure we were all pretty hungry. The problem was all the food places were going to close in 5 minutes. We really wanted flame tree BBQ. So what's a mommy to do? Run! I left Kitty and Tom on there leisurely stroll as I ran to Flame Tree to order our food before they closed. I ran into some congestion around the tree of life, but I made it there just in time.

I ordered the chicken, pulled pork and rib platter as well as the St. Louis ribs. We also got a basket of onion rings and some sort of lime tart for our dessert option. That was more then enough food to feed the three of us. In fact we didn't even finish it all. We had a nice seat we're we could hear the music from the dance party and see part of the lights from the tree of light awakening.

After we ate as much as we could, we left to do one last ride on Expedition Everest in the Dark. It had been years since I had been able to do that. It was back when they use to have extra magic hours in the evening at AK. Tom and Kitty had never ridden it in the dark before. It was just as fun as I remembered!



If you get a chance to do it, you should. It's a completely different experience then in the day.

After Everest we headed back to the car for park number three. But first we stopped on the way to see the tree of life "Awakening"



And of course the Christmas tree lit up.



It's much prettier at night.

Up Next: Hooray for Hollywood

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Just found your trip report. Great job so far! A week at WDW followed by a week long Disney cruise sounds like a dream come true to me!!

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 2 Part 8 (Hollywood Studios)

We drove to Hollywood studios and got a parking spot in the boondocks. So, we ditched the stroller in the car and took the parking lot tram.


I love the tinsel in "Tinsel town" for Christmas.

When I was in line for the Safari I checked to see if there were any good fast passes at Hollywood studios for fourth. There wasn't much. We like the Muppets 3-D so I took a fast pass for that.



When we got there we definitely did not need it. The theater was half empty.



After, I wanted to go get a spot to see Jingle Bell Jingle Bam. But Kitty and Tom had other ideas. They wanted to go on Star Tours. We decided to split up.

I made my way to the Theater and since there was just one of me I was able to find a spot that was in the center.



I liked how they played Christmas music and made it snow on the theater before the show started.



I also liked the Christmas tree projection at the end.


The show it self was ok. Not enough fireworks. But I may be biased, I was really looking forward to the Star Wars fireworks. I still haven't seen them by the way, (thanks Disney:-/). When they announced they were doing this instead, I was really bummed. I also knew there was no way I was getting Tom to sit through them. That's one of the reasons why I didn't put up a fight when he wanted to ride start tours instead.

After the show I texted Tom and we were all headed towards the same place, Rock 'n' roll coaster! Kitty had never been because she was never tall enough. But now she has hit that magical 48 inch mark. She was supper excited!

And she loved it.

After we exited we noticed that we still had ten minutes until the park closed. What to do? What to do? Go on one last ride of course. We decided to go for Star Tours since it's one of Tom's favorite rides and I didn't get to go on it with them earlier.



Now that I look back, we got a lot accomplished in one day. Three different parks and we opened and closed two of them.


DDP

Be Our Guest $48 (2cs credits)

Skippers Canteen $104.36 (3 TS credits)

Flame Tree BBQ $66.60 (2cs credits)

Dole Whip float $5.29 (1 snack credit)


Total for the Day: $224.25

Overall Total: $404.70


TS credits left: 15

cs credits left:14

Snack credits left: 20


Up next: Breakfast date with an alien, Dinner date for the gown ups.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 3 part 1 Ohana's and Sea World

Considering the busy day we had before, we got up pretty early. We had an 8am ADR for breakfast. We let Kitty sleep in and put her in the car in her PJ's (they were really cute pj's). Off we drove to the Polynesian for our Character breakfast at Ohana's.




We had done this breakfast several times before, it's Kitty's favorite. Mainly because it's one of the only places you can still meet Lilo and Stitch. She's a big fan. The breakfast itself is pretty standard, eggs, potatoes, bacon, Mickey waffles served family style. I really like the sweet bread they serve at the start of the meal and that they serve POG instead of orange juice.

After Breakfast Kitty changed into the cloths I brought for her and we had a look at the Christmas decorations around the lobby. The decorations here are my favorite, I really like how tropical they are.



And off we went to Sea World. Our Discovery Kingdom day included up to fourteen days at Sea World. We had never been to the Orlando one before. However, we have done the San Diego one a couple times.


I had purchased the extra parking pass online, so we just showed the attendant our print out and we were on our way to park. We got there right after it opened, so the entrance was still kind of Congested. Not, anywhere near Disney congested though. They had three different lines with signs telling you were to go. This was a little confusing since all I had was my print outs from Discovery Kingdom. We decided to take our chances in the pre purchased ticket line, since the purchase tickets line was super long. It turned out to be right, they just scanned a barcode on my print out and we were free to go in.

Not knowing where to go we grabbed a map and decided to try the penguin ride. As we headed there we encountered these guys taking their morning walk to the front of the park.



When we got to "Antarctica Empire of the Penguin" we were told the "wild" version was closed but that we could go on the mild version.



So we followed the line into a small room that reeked of fish and watch a short computer animated video about a baby penguin.



It ended by opening up into the penguin habitat. (That explains the fish smell) The penguins were really cute, but we were freezing in our shorts and flip flops, so moved on pretty quickly.



Kitty wanted to stay and watch the penguins swim in the not as cold under water viewing area. Tom and I both love roller coasters, but Kitty was too short for most of them at Sea World. We decided that I would take off and do Mako and he would stay with Kitty then bring her to Shamus happy Harbor.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 3 Part 2 (Sea World)

So, off I went to Mako.



The line was no excitant. I literally walk through the queue and into an open seat on the ride. With the hype of this ride being the tallest roller coaster, I was a little disappointed. There wasn't even a loop.


Mako's the one on the right. The yellow and turquoise is Kraken.

It was still fun, I think my expectations may have just been too high. Since I was finished with Mako so fast I thought I'd try another coaster before switching with Tom.

Not knowing the layout of the park I made a lot of turns that I probably shouldn't have.



Saw a lot of Christmas decorations though.

I finally made it to Mantis.



The wait time in front read 10 Minutes so I got in line. That was not the real time I waited. It was more like half an hour. Luckily there were lots of interesting aquariums to look at in the queue.



I had been on Mantis in San Diego which was a hanging coaster that started in a room that vertically filled with water before sending you off on the thrill ride. This version is nothing like that. After you sit in the seat it tilts you forward to lay face down. This gave you the effect of flying.



It was so fun! I got of immediately wishing that Kitty could go on this ride, she would love it.

When I met up with Tom at Happy Harbor Kitty was playing in a giant rope net.



Tom took off and I watched as Kitty played. When Kitty was done playing we decided to go on Wild Arctic. Again, the line was non excitant. This ride was exactly like the one in San Diego. I wasn't really thrilled about the one in San Diego either. It's just a cheesy simulator ride. But, it does let you out into the Arctic animal habitat.



Kitty loved watching them swim. I had read how in the years prior they had changed it to be the polar express. I wish they would had done it this year as well, it would have made the ride a lot better.

After Kitty wanted to go on Atlantis. Tom texted and decided to meet us there. He went on Kraken and Mako and had the opposite reaction then me about Mako. He loved it and thought it was the best ride there.

When we met Tom at Atlantis he decided he didn't want to get wet. Kitty and I went on it ourselves. The line wasn't bad at all maybe 5 minutes. This version was also different then the San Diego version. It actually had more story as you start out like your going on a "small world" style and then things start to go wrong and it turns into the roller coaster/flume ride. Kitty loved it, I think because it was most exciting ride she was tall enough for in this park.

After Atlantis we decided to go back to the hotel. You may be wondering why we didn't go to any animal shows, after all isn't that what Sea World is famous for? Well we have seen "One Ocean" and "Blue Horizon" a couple times in San Diego and didn't really feel the desire to see them again.

Back at the hotel we stopped at the food court and got Kitty lunch and a snack for Tom and I. We wanted to save room for our big meal later. Then Kitty and I went swimming at the pool, while Tom took a nap.



We then had to start getting ready for our big night at V&A.

Up next: Date Night!

 

[DIS_Ag]

Good TR.... people are definitely reading.

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 3 Part 3: Getting ready for V&A

As I told you before, tonight was date night! Tom, Kitty and I all got gussied up for our night out. We opted not to drive tonight since both Tom and I wanted to do the wine paring with dinner. Rather then dealing with buses and transfers in our fancy clothes we decided to get an Uber. We had him drive us to the Polynesian so we could drop of Kitty at the kids club.

We got there a little early and she was a little nervous to go to a new place, so we stopped to get her a Dole Whip.



When we brought her to Lilo's play house the cast members were so nice and inviting. Then she saw all the fun stuff in there and she couldn't say goodbye to us fast enough.



I like how they decorate for the holidays even in here too.



They had us pick out Kitty's dinner and snack before we left. The price for this ended up coming to $56. The counselors are like the ones on DCL and they even had a cooking activity and some characters came to visit. Considering you get eight hours of babysitting, a bunch of Disney planned activities, characters, dinner and a snack for your kid, I think it's not such a bad deal.

After we had Kitty all set for her adventure we went up to the monorail to head to the Grand Floridian. We were about twenty minutes early. So we looked around the lobby. No Christmas tree yet.



We saw the photo pass lady at her kiosk and decided to ask if anyone was taking pictures in the lobby. I thought we could get a picture while we're all cleaned up nice. She said she can go take pictures, but only if there's no customers at the desk in need of looking at their pictures. She was about to take out her camera when a lady came up behind us to check out her photos.

We waited around that area for awhile, but then a line started to form. So, we head over to V&A.



When we got there it was still closed. The chefs table goes in before everybody else.


We were checking out the menu when someone came out the door. They asked our name and told us they were not quite ready for us yet. They told us to have a seat at one of the tables in the lounge and that they would come out to get us shortly.



So we sat at at table and people watched out the window.

Up next: The Chefs Table!

 

[esue72]

Following along! Can't wait to read about the cruise part of your trip. I have a Merrytime planned for this December.

 

[lizzyb]

Great start!
Joining in!

 

[Kari0180]

Looking forward to the rest of your report, can't wait to read about Victoria & Alberts!

 

[kkayluvsdis]

Enjoying your report...

 

[Cali Cat]

Day 3 part 4: Victoria and Alberts Chef Table

As I'm sitting here writing this I'm realizing that I don't remember any of the names of the people who served us or the people we talk to. I remember the interactions but not the names. (By the way I'm really bad at names.) Luckily, they did give us the menu so I can tell you this what we ate and how I liked it.

As we sat in the lounge outside the door, we were greeted by a nice lady who walked us into an empty V&A dinning room. It was beautiful with a giant bouquet of fresh flowers that welcome you as soon as you walked in. We walked past the quiet dinning room and into a very active kitchen. Everyone we past stopped what they were doing and welcomed us. We were brought into a what I guess you would call an alcove in the back off the kitchen.




It was very nicely decorated with dark wood cabinets and a table set for two facing all the action in the kitchen.




I have to say that I worked as a server in college at several different restaurants. I've seen the inside of a Kitchen before. There's usually where and tare from daily use. During rushes items may get spilled or dropped and get cleaned up halfway and left for the end of the night. Not here, I don't think I saw one spill or one item ever put out of place. Everything looked brand new. I have never seen a kitchen so immaculate.



We sat at the table and our napkins were changed out to match our outfits. I know fancy, right? Then we were introduced to our servers. Both were very nice. Through out our dinner they were very kind and answered all our questions. Not just about the food but about themselves. One of them use to work at a restaurant by where we live, so it was good to talk to him about the area. The others wife was a nurse and you could tell how very proud he was of her, rightly so. Even though the setting and service was very formal they were very casual and forthcoming with us. Which we both really liked. I'm not sure if this is always the case or if they just did this because they could tell that's what we wanted.

Up next: Bring on the food!

 

[tltay2005]

Hoping you post some about your cruise. We are taking our first Fantasy Merry Time cruise (Western Caribbean) next year.

 

[calilou]

Just reading your report and waiting for the conclusion! Please, please finish! I so want to hear about V&A's and your cruise! I'm enjoying your report very much.

 

[dprincessmom]

This is a similar set up to what we are doing, so I am anxiously awaiting the rest of your report.

 

[cindianne320]

Awesome report! Can't wait to hear more- especially your dinner and the cruise!