Grumpy Challenge 2017.... A Marathon Weekend TR (Updated 3/19 Final Thoughts)

[soniam]

Those Disney Vans never get really comfortable. I have a pair of Winnie the Pooh ones that I have worn a decent amount, and they still rub my heel. I never get to wear them to the park because of this Plus, I never wear new shoes to the park. Hope it didn't cause too many problems. The Mad Hatter is such a hoot!

 

[rteetz]

Those Disney Vans never get really comfortable. I have a pair of Winnie the Pooh ones that I have worn a decent amount, and they still rub my heel. I never get to wear them to the park because of this Plus, I never wear new shoes to the park. Hope it didn't cause too many problems. The Mad Hatter is such a hoot!

Well now I know. I will never wear them to a park again. My feet hurt that day but thankfully we're okay the rest of the time.

 

[ZellyB]

Uh oh on the shoes. My daughter has a pair of the slip-on Disney vans that she hardly ever wore because they were uncomfortable. Glad to hear there wasn't any permanent damage.

I totally didn't ever see the cabanas while we were there, but I also forgot to look for them.

 

[rteetz]

Uh oh on the shoes. My daughter has a pair of the slip-on Disney vans that she hardly ever wore because they were uncomfortable. Glad to hear there wasn't any permanent damage.

I totally didn't ever see the cabanas while we were there, but I also forgot to look for them.

Yeah I won't be wearing those to the parks anymore.

They are actually more out of the way than I thought.

 

[Disneyhayes]

I have a huge fear of blisters at Disney so I never get cute shoes to wear. I've been eyeing those Disney Vans but looks like I'll have to use mole skin if I get some

 

[rteetz]

I have a huge fear of blisters at Disney so I never get cute shoes to wear. I've been eyeing those Disney Vans but looks like I'll have to use mole skin if I get some

I really like the shoes they just not shoes you wear to a theme park.

 

[CherieFran]

I have the Jungle Book Vans and I do okay with them but I do always wear them on the day that I think I'm going to do the least amount of walking (aka, arrival/departure day or not Epcot/MK).

 

[rteetz]

I have the Jungle Book Vans and I do okay with them but I do always wear them on the day that I think I'm going to do the least amount of walking (aka, arrival/departure day or not Epcot/MK).

I figured the day I wore them would be the only day I could really wear them so that's why I did. We were in MK that long but it still wasn't good. Oh well I survived.

 

[MuppetFanJM]

I have trouble finding the right shoes EVERY TIME. All Stars, Nikes, Vans, they all gave me blisters. Maybe it's because I'm always at the parks from early morning 'til it closes.

Hope you had better luck during other park days. And I'm loving the pictures. It's been such a long time since I've been to Splash Mountain and I really do enjoy seeing pictures of it!

 

[rteetz]

I have trouble finding the right shoes EVERY TIME. All Stars, Nikes, Vans, they all gave me blisters. Maybe it's because I'm always at the parks from early morning 'til it closes.

Hope you had better luck during other park days. And I'm loving the pictures. It's been such a long time since I've been to Splash Mountain and I really do enjoy seeing pictures of it!

I stuck to my tennis shoes the rest of the trip. I brought 5 pairs of shoes with me so I had plenty of options.

I love Splash if its warm enough. You won't see me riding that when its less than 70 degrees.

 

[MuppetFanJM]

I stuck to my tennis shoes the rest of the trip. I brought 5 pairs of shoes with me so I had plenty of options.

I love Splash if its warm enough. You won't see me riding that when its less than 70 degrees.

That's why I haven't been in so many years! I'm always around at Xmas time. Kinda sucks really but what will do you...

 

[rteetz]

Sprinkles! Morimoto! D-Luxe Burger! Oh MY!

Well we didn't have any dinner plans and we are staying at Saratoga Springs so what better place to go to than Disney Springs! I was excited not only to eat here but also check out the Drone show on this night. It would be ending on the 8th so I needed to see it before it ended.

We took the bus this time instead of the boat. The bus now drops you off in Town Center which if you haven't been is a completely new area of Disney Springs. Town Center has some nice things like Uniqlo (I will talk about this one later) but it has a very overwhelming outlet mall feel.





The Christmas Tree in Town Center was really beautiful. The decor overall at Disney Springs was great.





A look at Planet Hollywood Observatory as its rumored to open by the end of this month...







One thing I wanted to check out was the Coca-Cola store. It was a nice store but nothing really caught my eye. I wanted to see if the Coke Bear was meeting but it didn't look like it. I never went back to that store after that night.



Next I walked by The Edison. This will be an upscale restaurant/bar/night club. There is a location in Los Angelos already that gives you an idea of what this one will be like.







My mom and the rest of the group were at Sprinkles so I headed over there next. My first time having Sprinkles was over the summer in Chicago. I know many say their cupcakes aren't as good as some other places but we don't really have cupcake places in Wisconsin so this was pretty good to me! I decided to try a cupcake sundae. I got a sprinkle cupcake with cookie dough ice cream. I also got a Chocolate Marshmallow cupcake for later.



After that it was just about time for the Drone show so I headed over to Food Truck Park. After reviews on the Disboards many said that area was the best to watch from so I got a spot about 10-15 minutes before the show started.





Pictures don't do the show justice. It is very short clocking in at 5 minutes but it is very cool. 300 Intel drones imported from Germany. From what I have heard Imagineering is working on their own drones to incorporate in future WDW shows. I can only imagine the possibilities.





We needed food after that.



We passed by Morimoto and some were interested in that however didn't want a sit down. Then I let them know about the quick service counter around the corner. They were very happy then. I don't think anyone ended up actually eating there though. I however was on a mission for D-Luxe burger. I needed to check this out since I absolutely love burgers.

We found it and I ordered the BBQ burger which had bacon and a lone onion ring on it. I also got a Strawberry shake. I thought the food was very good. The one downside at D-Luxe is seating. With a larger group there really aren't any tables for that they were all smaller tables and a couple bar stool areas. We finally got a table but it was dirty. We ask a worker there to clean the table for us. She must not have had a good day or something because she gave us a dirty look and then her body language when cleaning was horrendous. I definitely recommend the place for food though!



I wanted to check out the Christmas Tree Trail on the marketplace side. Everyone else went to a store somewhere. I said I would meet up in a little bit.

Look snow in Florida!



Continued in next post...

 

[rteetz]

Sprinkles! Morimoto! D-Luxe Burger! Oh MY!

There were some really cool chalk drawings on the ground that I took photos of.





On to the trees!































They were very nicely decorated trees. However I wish they made it more forest like or more of a trail. It was really just a row of trees on both sides with fake snow and Christmas music. Good concept but not fully executed.

We headed out after that as tomorrow we would be at DHS, Epcot, and the race Expo!

Up Next: No I do not like drop rides!

 

[ariane37]

We did PF breakfast way back in 2010 and loved it, I'd like to go back but right now my 2 DS's just aren't into character meals anymore So does Alice meet outside the restaurant now by the mural?
Ugh those Vans! I bought the Villains are new as saying on as they came out and I was thrilled! Until Imtreid wearing them......not comfy at all. I knew I'd never be able to wear them in Disney so luckily I was able to sell them on eBay.
I agree with you that down by Town Center looks like an outlet mall and while it's definitely pretty and I did think it was beautifully decorated for Christmas, I don't like the mall feel. All the food additions are great though!

 

[rteetz]

We did PF breakfast way back in 2010 and loved it, I'd like to go back but right now my 2 DS's just aren't into character meals anymore So does Alice meet outside the restaurant now by the mural?
Ugh those Vans! I bought the Villains are new as saying on as they came out and I was thrilled! Until Imtreid wearing them......not comfy at all. I knew I'd never be able to wear them in Disney so luckily I was able to sell them on eBay.
I agree with you that down by Town Center looks like an outlet mall and while it's definitely pretty and I did think it was beautifully decorated for Christmas, I don't like the mall feel. All the food additions are great though!

Yes Alice met outside by the mural with a photopass photographer.

I was really excited about the Vans too. I'll probably still keep mine but only wear them when I am doing a lot of sitting

Yes, the only store I really liked was Uniqlo but I will talk about that later. The food additions are great and there are so many I still want to try.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Happy to follow along on your TR! Looks like an awesome trip so far!!

 

[rteetz]

Happy to follow along on your TR! Looks like an awesome trip so far!!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[soniam]

We really enjoyed D-Luxe Burger and the drone show too. The bar stools at D-Luxe are terrible. They wobble, so I kept feeling like I was falling. Be thankful you found any sort of table. DH and I split a burger, which was really messy and fell apart completely. Next time if I split one, I will ask for another container. We enjoyed it though. I wanted to try a shake and Sprinkles, but we wanted to save room for California Grill later. It sounds like you guys had a good time. I actually really like Disney Springs, even though I never really shop at any of the stores, except World of Disney and the food stores.

 

[rteetz]

We really enjoyed D-Luxe Burger and the drone show too. The bar stools at D-Luxe are terrible. They wobble, so I kept feeling like I was falling. Be thankful you found any sort of table. DH and I split a burger, which was really messy and fell apart completely. Next time if I split one, I will ask for another container. We enjoyed it though. I wanted to try a shake and Sprinkles, but we wanted to save room for California Grill later. It sounds like you guys had a good time. I actually really like Disney Springs, even though I never really shop at any of the stores, except World of Disney and the food stores.

Yes I agree about the bar stools. I think the seating could've been better especially for how popular the place was. California Grill is a good reason to save room. I do like Disney Springs a lot I just felt Town Center was too much mall like.

 

[nenglim]

i agree Disney Springs definitely has an outlet mall feel. And my family of 5 dont do well in malls. we were there in the summer and while there were alot of food choices, we still went to Earl of Sandwich. When we go in Feb, i will definitely be more adventurous. That shake from DLuxe burger and cupcake from Sprinkle looks good. Everytime we go to WDW we try 1 or 2 new cupcakes. Definitely trying one from there this Feb