He Was Bitten, Bitten By The Bug! A Nov-Dec '12 TR **WRAP UP 7/26**

[KatMark]

So, thanks to Lisa's suggestion of one of the monorail resorts for dinner the MK day I decided it wouldn't hurt to look at the availability to see if there were any possibilities. Of course there were several open at almost every restaurant, so after looking at the menus again I am now booked at Kona Cafe! I haven't cancelled the Crystal Palace one yet as I want to talk to Steve first, but I'm thinking we will eat at Kona, if we do in fact go. The more I think about it the happier I am to eat there. I'd get to introduce Steve to the Monorail and he can see the Monorail resorts and another resort in the Polynesian. I've also only seen a very little bit of the Polynesian, only the lobby area of the decorations last trip. And I've heard lots of good things about Kona and their menu looks good to me!

So, thanks Lisa for putting the idea back in my head.

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Excellent idea; we've only eaten breakfast there (a must-do for us almost every trip now), but I understand dinner is just as good.

 

[mickeystoontown]

So, thanks to Lisa's suggestion of one of the monorail resorts for dinner the MK day I decided it wouldn't hurt to look at the availability to see if there were any possibilities. Of course there were several open at almost every restaurant, so after looking at the menus again I am now booked at Kona Cafe! I haven't cancelled the Crystal Palace one yet as I want to talk to Steve first, but I'm thinking we will eat at Kona, if we do in fact go. The more I think about it the happier I am to eat there. I'd get to introduce Steve to the Monorail and he can see the Monorail resorts and another resort in the Polynesian. I've also only seen a very little bit of the Polynesian, only the lobby area of the decorations last trip. And I've heard lots of good things about Kona and their menu looks good to me!

So, thanks Lisa for putting the idea back in my head.

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Yay for making the Kona reservation. Lacey & Jesse loved their dinners there and I'm thinking we will give it a try next trip. It should take you very long to get back and forth between the park and the Poly.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Excellent idea; we've only eaten breakfast there (a must-do for us almost every trip now), but I understand dinner is just as good.

I've seen tons of good reviews of them so I'm excited to try it! Now I just need Steve to commit to the trip so I can eat there for sure!

Yay for making the Kona reservation. Lacey & Jesse loved their dinners there and I'm thinking we will give it a try next trip. It should take you very long to get back and forth between the park and the Poly.

If I do go then I will definitely review it in my TR. It's good to know Lacey and Jesse loved their dinners there, and I hope you do book it for your trip.

I think with that being our first park day Steve may be a bit overwhelmed by it all since DTD was a lot for him to take in, so getting out of the park for a couple hours might actually be a good thing. The park is open 15 hours that day so we will still have plenty of time to do attractions.

 

[SAT887]

Yay for Kona! We are doing dinner there as well

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Yay for Kona! We are doing dinner there as well

What day?

 

[SAT887]

I think it's Thursday the 12th?

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I think it's Thursday the 12th?

Mine is for Monday the 9th. Too bad its not the same day!

 

[SAT887]

Monday we are celebrating our anniversary at Artists Point

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Monday we are celebrating our anniversary at Artists Point

Aww....that is a great place to do that too! Does it hold a special meaning to you, or do you just like it there?

 

[ronnmel]

WE LOVE KONA!!!!!!!!!!! The food is good, and the BREAD is EXCELLENT! So good that I (who is very bad in the kitchen) attempted to bake it myself. It was okay, nowhere near as good as the real thing. Yum!

 

[SAT887]

We enjoy the outdoors, so we are giving it a try. My fingers are crossed that my kids behave!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

WE LOVE KONA!!!!!!!!!!! The food is good, and the BREAD is EXCELLENT! So good that I (who is very bad in the kitchen) attempted to bake it myself. It was okay, nowhere near as good as the real thing. Yum!

Your Disneymoon TR is what made me want to try Kona! I remember you saying how good the food was, and how much you love the bread. So funny you tried to bake the bread, I've tried to make things I've liked at restaurants before too. It never turns out as good.

We enjoy the outdoors, so we are giving it a try. My fingers are crossed that my kids behave!

I hope they behave for you too! I've never been to Artist Point but it is on my list to try one day for sure.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY FIVE, MONDAY DECEMBER 3RD, PART SEVEN


Once I finished eating as much as I could of the delicious Cinnamon Roll from Gaston's Tavern I decided to head over to Enchanted Tales with Belle. I hoped that since it was after 10pm and into EMH that the line wouldn't be so bad.






The posted wait was 30 minutes, which was the shortest I had seen in the 3 days I had come to MK so I got in line. There were 2 teenage girls in front of me with their mother who were bratty. I don't know how their mother didn't smack them upside their heads for some of the things they were saying to her! I tried to ignore them (which seemed to be their mother's tactic too) and took pictures all along the line too. First up was the outside portion of the line.















Then we moved into Gaston's cottage...



























Finally we were moved into the next room as a group to see the magic mirror. Not sure I was allowed to take pictures in here, but I did so here they are!









Then we went into the magic portal and wound up in Beast's Castle! We talked to the wardrobe and they handed out parts to 2 guys and some kids...






....then we were all quickly ushered into the library. I felt the CM in the previous room rushed the process and there were several kids that wanted parts, but she never asked if anyone else wanted any extra parts.

I got a few pictures of the library while we waited for everyone to come in.












Belle then came out and was surprised by everyone being there.






The show itself was kinda cute, but fast. You only got a picture and bookmark if you yourself had a part in the show. One woman asked if her daughter could take a picture with her brother (he was the only one with a part) and was told no by the CM. I think I just got a rude CM since I've heard of other people having better experiences. Overall I'm glad I tried it, but I have no interest in every doing it again.


CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST



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[PhoenixStrength]

I was starting to feel tired when I got done Belle and had nothing else on my to-do list by then, so I decided to head out. I walked slowly around, not in a rush at all. I took a picture of the Carousel as I passed it...






...then headed thru Cinderella's Castle toward the Hub. I took several pictures here.















And a shot of Main Street from in the Hub.






I stopped at the PP on my way down Main Street. First up are 2 pictures from my camera, which turned out okay.









Then the picture from the PP's camera.






The train station from beside the flag pole






I love how beautiful the park is all lit up at night!

I climbed up in the train station to get a better view of Main Street and Cinderella's Castle. First picture is no zoom, second is zoomed in.









I watched Main Street for a bit, then said goodbye to Magic Kingdom, promising to come back again soon. I made it to the bus stop for POP Century at 11:24pm, to see a bus pulling away. It only took a few minutes for 2 more buses to pull up, which was great as there were 7 ECVs waiting to load up. While I waited for them to load those up first on the 2 buses I took a picture of the Contemporary resort.






I got on the bus at 11:36pm and was in my room at POP by 11:56pm. I did take one picture across the lake and of AoA outside my room as I walked in.






I quickly changed, downloaded the pictures I took that day and was in bed by 12:10am.

bus stop 11:24pm, bus leaving, 2 more showed (good as 7 EVCs), bus 11:36-56, bed at 12:10.


NEXT TIME: MY LAST DAY



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[KatMark]

I have absolutely no desire to see the thing with Belle. I suppose if I had grandchildren I might, but with just Mark and me, I don't see the point. Sorry your experience wasn't better.

I love your close up shot from the train station of Main Street...the castle looks stunning in that picture.

Not a bad time getting back to your resort.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I have absolutely no desire to see the thing with Belle. I suppose if I had grandchildren I might, but with just Mark and me, I don't see the point. Sorry your experience wasn't better.

I love your close up shot from the train station of Main Street...the castle looks stunning in that picture.

Not a bad time getting back to your resort.

Don't blame you at all! If I do take Steve I can pretty much guarantee we will skip it. I didn't like it and I know he would not enjoy it at all.

I really like that picture too. The view from there is wonderful at night.

I think it helped that I got there in the middle of EMH, so everyone that left at regular closing was gone and everyone else was still in the park.

 

[afwdwfan]

It's a great big beautiful tomorrow....now I'm going to have that stuck in my head all day!

I can think of worse songs to have stuck in your head.

And that was nice of you to respect Uncle Orville's privacy.

After looking over the menu I decided on the Warm Cinnamon Roll.

I'll be right back... I've got to go get something to eat now.

Looks amazing! I want one now!

So, thanks to Lisa's suggestion of one of the monorail resorts for dinner the MK day I decided it wouldn't hurt to look at the availability to see if there were any possibilities. Of course there were several open at almost every restaurant, so after looking at the menus again I am now booked at Kona Cafe! I haven't cancelled the Crystal Palace one yet as I want to talk to Steve first, but I'm thinking we will eat at Kona, if we do in fact go. The more I think about it the happier I am to eat there. I'd get to introduce Steve to the Monorail and he can see the Monorail resorts and another resort in the Polynesian. I've also only seen a very little bit of the Polynesian, only the lobby area of the decorations last trip. And I've heard lots of good things about Kona and their menu looks good to me!

So, thanks Lisa for putting the idea back in my head.

​

Well, it looks like you made a choice, but my answer was going to be Liberty Tree. We absolutely LOVE the food there!

I think going to any of the monorail loop resorts for dinner is a fine choice though.

The show itself was kinda cute, but fast. You only got a picture and bookmark if you yourself had a part in the show. One woman asked if her daughter could take a picture with her brother (he was the only one with a part) and was told no by the CM. I think I just got a rude CM since I've heard of other people having better experiences. Overall I'm glad I tried it, but I have no interest in every doing it again.

Well, that certainly makes me feel better about us skipping it. I wanted to see it, but I just wasn't sure it was worth waiting in the long lines that we always saw. At least you were able to see it with a little bit shorter of a wait.



Your pictures leaving the MK are fantastic. I particularly liked the one looking through the castle towards the train station lit up at the end of Main Street.

 

[Pluto0809]

I'm finally back and all caught up! I took notes so I could remember what I read.

I am so jealous of your Buzz perfect score! I knew about the target you have circled there but I can only seem to hit it once or twice at the most. For some reason I always get a gun that doesn't point down far enough and I can only hit that target when I first get in the room. I will get a perfect score some day! I know there has to be a 100,000 target somewhere in the first room but I have no idea where it is. I hit it when I went with Mom last November and ended up with over 300,000 after the first room. Still only scored a little under 500,000 for the full ride though!

Ah, Peter Pan. Love that ride. October will be the first time I think that I won't be riding it since it will be closed that entire month.

Love all of the pictures with the Castle including the ones from the Castle Show and Wishes. I cannot wait to see Wishes again in October, I have it scheduled for the first night!

Thanks for the post on the refrigerators. I saw something about it when I was on vacation but missed most of the information. I was thinking about doing a Garden Grocer order for the October trip but probably won't now because of that.

I don't think I've every seen that little door in the Laugh Floor lobby. I'm going to have to look for it next trip. I wonder if they'll add anything from the new movie?

Good thoughts for Steve. I've been very lucky and have never had to struggle in my life so I can't know what he's going through. I hope things improve soon for him and you get to go on your trip.

Loved the pictures from Carousel of Progress! Awesome the CM let you break the rules! The little dog is my favorite and you got some good shots of him. I spend half of the ride watching him to see when he moves.

Man, I wish I had seen a 15 minute wait for Winnie the Pooh in March. I never got to ride because the line was always at least 50 minutes. At least I can drag my unsuspecting DH on it in Oct. My family has already vetoed riding it in Feb.

I know that you already have your MK TS settled with Kona, but I'll just throw in my vote for The Plaza. I loved my meal there when I went in March.

I had almost the same reaction to ETWB as you did. But at least I didn't have rude teenagers around me in line. I did enjoy seeing the pictures of the first room because I missed it. I went from standing outside and walked straight through that room and into the mirror room.

Beautiful night shots of Main Street and the Castle. I really love the non zoomed one from the train station. I kept staring at it and noticing little details each time. Like the couple getting their photo in front of the Toy Soldiers. So cute!

Whew! I think that's it. Hopefully I can stay caught up now since I won't be going away again till the end of September.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm finally back and all caught up! I took notes so I could remember what I read.

I am so jealous of your Buzz perfect score! I knew about the target you have circled there but I can only seem to hit it once or twice at the most. For some reason I always get a gun that doesn't point down far enough and I can only hit that target when I first get in the room. I will get a perfect score some day! I know there has to be a 100,000 target somewhere in the first room but I have no idea where it is. I hit it when I went with Mom last November and ended up with over 300,000 after the first room. Still only scored a little under 500,000 for the full ride though!

I've gotten a perfect score at least 6 times on Buzz, though 2 times it was because we got stuck in the room with that 100K spot so it's not difficult then!

Ah, Peter Pan. Love that ride. October will be the first time I think that I won't be riding it since it will be closed that entire month.

That sucks! I hate it when a ride I love is down for refurb while I'm there.

Love all of the pictures with the Castle including the ones from the Castle Show and Wishes. I cannot wait to see Wishes again in October, I have it scheduled for the first night!

Wishes is my favorite by far, though I love the other night shows too. But something about the castle with the fireworks is magical.

Thanks for the post on the refrigerators. I saw something about it when I was on vacation but missed most of the information. I was thinking about doing a Garden Grocer order for the October trip but probably won't now because of that.

Yeah, probably not a good idea to have a bunch of groceries and possibly not have a fridge to put them in!

I don't think I've every seen that little door in the Laugh Floor lobby. I'm going to have to look for it next trip. I wonder if they'll add anything from the new movie?

The door is in the holding area before you go in the theater. It's easy to miss when there are a lot of people in there, since anyone but a short kid would block it.

Good thoughts for Steve. I've been very lucky and have never had to struggle in my life so I can't know what he's going through. I hope things improve soon for him and you get to go on your trip.

Thanks. I'll have an update about those things next.

Loved the pictures from Carousel of Progress! Awesome the CM let you break the rules! The little dog is my favorite and you got some good shots of him. I spend half of the ride watching him to see when he moves.

The dog is my favorite too!

Man, I wish I had seen a 15 minute wait for Winnie the Pooh in March. I never got to ride because the line was always at least 50 minutes. At least I can drag my unsuspecting DH on it in Oct. My family has already vetoed riding it in Feb.

The line was long the other 2 times I was in MK and earlier that day too. I think it was just short since it was after Wishes and a lot of guests had left.

I know that you already have your MK TS settled with Kona, but I'll just throw in my vote for The Plaza. I loved my meal there when I went in March.

I had almost the same reaction to ETWB as you did. But at least I didn't have rude teenagers around me in line. I did enjoy seeing the pictures of the first room because I missed it. I went from standing outside and walked straight through that room and into the mirror room.

It's not really made for adults without kids I think.

Beautiful night shots of Main Street and the Castle. I really love the non zoomed one from the train station. I kept staring at it and noticing little details each time. Like the couple getting their photo in front of the Toy Soldiers. So cute!

I love that one too. You can also see the same woman with a stroller and orange backpack in that shot and the one of the train station I took before going up there.

Whew! I think that's it. Hopefully I can stay caught up now since I won't be going away again till the end of September.

Replies in red above!

I can think of worse songs to have stuck in your head.

And that was nice of you to respect Uncle Orville's privacy.

I agree!


I'll be right back... I've got to go get something to eat now.

Looks amazing! I want one now!

It was amazing for sure! Very yummy, and HUGE!!!


Well, it looks like you made a choice, but my answer was going to be Liberty Tree. We absolutely LOVE the food there!

I think going to any of the monorail loop resorts for dinner is a fine choice though.

I ate at Liberty Tree Tavern before the new menu and loved it, but I'm not a big fan of apple pie and that is the only desert listed now that I saw.


Well, that certainly makes me feel better about us skipping it. I wanted to see it, but I just wasn't sure it was worth waiting in the long lines that we always saw. At least you were able to see it with a little bit shorter of a wait.

If it had a short line it wouldn't hurt to see it, just so you know how you feel about it, but otherwise I wouldn't bother.


Your pictures leaving the MK are fantastic. I particularly liked the one looking through the castle towards the train station lit up at the end of Main Street.

Thanks!

Replies in red.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS UPDATE

Good news first. Steve more than likely has an investor for his company! It is actually one of his clients who is very interested in investing. They've talked a few times and he definitely seems to want to do it. Steve won't know for sure until they meet in person, which isn't until August 7th. The client is a snow bird and won't be back in FL until then. He is stressing out about making sure he has all the paperwork and info the potential investor may want to see and is cautiously optimistic. However, because he has had a couple fall thru so far he is trying not to get his hopes up too much. Any continuing good thoughts for him would be appreciated.

So, the bad news. No Disney trip. Steve is just going to be too busy and doesn't want to take a whole week off and wind up behind again after all he went thru to get going again. I don't blame him, but I'm still very upset to not be going. I seriously considered changing my mind and doing a solo trip since I've gotten so excited about going, but I really don't want to do a trip alone again. So, no Disney for me in 2013. Well, technically Steve did say if one of us wins the lottery in the next few weeks we can go, but that doesn't seem likely. I've been on hold with WDW for over an hour now waiting to cancel. Don't know why this afternoon is such a busy time to be calling, but apparently it is! I have to cancel all my dining reservations too. I just want to cry thinking about it.



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