Hello-It'sSmee! A July 2020 "It's Good to Be Bad AND Back" TR *Link to new TR 2/21*

[pkondz]

You know the other bad experiences we've had is when we're trying to go from park to park on the buses; say AK to Epcot. Those tend to take FOREVER.

I rarely take those. Hmmm... maybe I never have?

Ugh I know! He read this lol and he's been wearing the disposable ones now lol so they'll come with us to Disney!

Nope! Red sangria is ok but otherwise I'm all for white

You is wise. (except in your taste of coconut).

 

[buzzrelly]

It's burrata!
Burrata is an Italian cow milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella, while the inside contains stracciatella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture.
It's much softer than mozzerella; a tiny bit saltier at least IMO. Delicious!

Yum! That sounds like it's right up my alley!

 

[disneyAndi14]

We definitely want to try WBG, it has so many great reviews.
I ask my husband about Jam Jar wine, keep in mind he is a wine snob because of his job, and he said why would you want that I had to laugh. I occasionally like a sweet wine but mostly I like the big bold reds that are served room temp, thanks to Joe.
It does sound like DS does get busy in the evening!

 

[butterscotchcollins]

For my sweet wine lovers, my BFF bought me the most incredible bottle of sparkling rosé as a gift and it was nice and floral and delicious: it was the Bartenura Sparkling Rosé Moscato. I think this might be up someone's alley on this thread...

 

[vamassey1]

Sidenote I told Steve I don't like his black masks lol. I don't like the way they stick up on his nose! He wasn't thrilled with my unsolicited opinion but he got it! Those are his Starbucks free masks their

DH had these through work too. So glad they now use the disposable ones.

Burrata
seasonal tomatoes, olive oil, grilled bread

This looks really good!

Grilled Octopus Salad
lemon vinaigrette, olive vegetable medley

NO THANKS.

I love this bag! Good Choice. Retail therapy is a wonderful thing.

 

[CruellaNY]

Well of all the food posted, I think I would probably try the meatballs...and nothing else shown.

Not even the burrata? Do you like mozzarella? Like in a caprese salad?

Perhaps one of these days our trips will overlap again!

Looks like it might happen

That loungefly is really cute.

Thanks! Definitely my favorite so far.

We definitely want to try WBG, it has so many great reviews.

Perfect place to try when Andi is 21!

ask my husband about Jam Jar wine, keep in mind he is a wine snob because of his job, and he said why would you want that

lmao that doesn't surprise me! First of all if Kari isn't impressed you know it isn't a very high end wine. Also since it's only like 3 years now that I've even been drinking wine my palate isn't too refined yet!

For my sweet wine lovers, my BFF bought me the most incredible bottle of sparkling rosé as a gift and it was nice and floral and delicious: it was the Bartenura Sparkling Rosé Moscato. I think this might be up someone's alley on this thread...

Good suggestion thank you! I'm always looking for a new wine to try because I stick with one for awhile and then get tired of it.

 

[CruellaNY]

love this bag! Good Choice. Retail therapy is a wonderful thing.

It certainly is! But I'll need to stop at some point lol

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Good suggestion thank you! I'm always looking for a new wine to try because I stick with one for awhile and then get tired of it.

It's VERY sweet so as long as you're into that give it a try, I hope you enjoy! I also usually have a bottle of Josh Cabernet Sauvignon on hand for my red fix.

 

[kittylady1972]

Not even the burrata? Do you like mozzarella? Like in a caprese salad?

Looks like it might happen

I like mozzarella...but I do NOT like tomatoes!

And yes our overlapping trips just might happen! Cool!

 

[fractal]

Adding Wine Bar George to my list! Looks great!

Yes on Obi-Wan. The young version from the Prequels.

enjoying the report.

 

[WishesQueen]

WBG looks great...the backpack is adorable!

 

[CruellaNY]

I like mozzarella...but I do NOT like tomatoes!

That's Chris too!

Adding Wine Bar George to my list! Looks great!

Yes I think your family would enjoy it!

enjoying the report.

WBG looks great...the backpack is adorable!

I LOVE that backpack and am trying hard not to use it until our trip in 20 days lol

 

[CruellaNY]

Some good news this week from Disney! Fall discounts, CRT and Hollywood and Vine reopening, and the best for me Gaston's opens in 2 days! That means a gigantor cinnamon roll for me in a few weeks I know neither of those restaurants may be your favorites-they aren't really mine-but what's important is that things OPEN rather than CLOSE. Because at the same time that Disney won't open things if they don't have guests coming, people won't come as they should until more things ARE open. So while I rather have heard that Flying Fish or Narcoossee's was opening I'm happy with these announcements for now!
​

Day 4 Part 1: Safari So Good!

Our 3rd park day was bringing us to a "new" post-COVID park AK! The park opened at 8 and while we didn't need to arrive that early we didn't want to get there too late. It didn't close till 6 but we had a special dinner we'd need to spiffy up for and didn't want to rush through our day. We didn't need to worry about that!

We started with a quick breakfast in our room that was again from the BC Marketplace and again unimpressive so I won't bore you with pictures. Steve was up early and spent some time on the BW before I got up and caught some more cleaning going on:



And enjoyed a little beach time:



We were on a bus to AK around 8:30 and arrived around 8:45 to this:



I mean yeah they'd been open for 45 minutes but still! Nobody going in! I'll say right here that AK is Steve's least favorite park. It's not my favorite park although it's made its way up the ladder in recent visits. However of all our park days this trip we had the best time here!

Saw these beautiful birdies as we approached the Tree of Life, I've never stopped to watch before:



When they all fly over you it's amazing, and also fun to see who they scare. On this day it was a boy of about 12 who freaked a bit when one bird was about 7 inches above his head lol.

After they finished their show I was able to get a picture with nobody around:



While most are heading to FOP these days with the low waits I have a different favorite ride here, so we went straight to Africa. Passed a relaxation station on the way:



Obviously it's not open for food right now. As we walked towards our destination now just over and hour after opening it was obvious the crowds were not going our way:




If you haven't guessed, our destination was the safari. I could ride this 3x a day as it's always different! Truth be told I prefer it to FOP I mean I really enjoy FOP but once a day is fine for me.
I think you've all seen pics of the plexiglass between rows on the safari trucks so I'll skip that and give you a cool shot of one of my favorite safari animals:




Hey there big guys! Ladies! Whoever My top fave are any big cats but rhinos have intrigued me since I started riding the safari years ago. So much so that I did the Up Close with Rhinos tour last year and want to do it again!

I did that with @Jenny Sanders and Joe FYI, it was on our EPIC Girls trip May 2019 and I went down the day before Steve came. Such an awesome tour, you get to touch a rhino and I hope they bring it back......

The safari was a good one and all the animals were out and roaming including TWO cheetahs standing UP! Crazy right? They lie down like 22 hours a day lol. Jenny and Joe had arrived after their daily casual TS breakfast And we met up to ride FOP. No wait! We basically walked right on and we could have ridden again right away but I was getting a big hangry since breakfast was small and blah. Since J&J had just eaten we split up briefly while they spent a little more time in Pandora and we made our way to another land for some eats!

One of my favorite parts of the day happened next. We were in a fairly empty park, had already ridden 2 headliners, it was hot but not nasty and we were heading for good food when we heard that "tinkly" music and then realized we had a boat approaching:




I left that one big because it's so cute! These are seriously the best, this was by the bridge near the LK show and we saw them again later over in Asia. I've seen pictures of Meeko and Pocahontas on a boat in AK and I SO hope we see them in a few weeks!

We continued our journey to the far corners of Asia and pulled out what everyone trekking around the continents should have: a handy dandy Landry's card. With that we pushed by all the poor unfortunate non Landry's members souls and had a seat in the restaurant within 4 minutes. Another 4 minutes and these were in front of us:



Ugh the lightning in there was so low and all the food pics are bad but at least my pretty orange drink kinda shines here. Steve had a Safari Amber Ale and I had a Yak Attack::

Mango Daiquiri, Don Q Cristal Rum and Wildberry Flavors

I know I've had this before but it's been awhile, it's on the sweet side but good! Our food was good as always, seriously the Landry's card is very handy especially on a hot or rainy day! It's great knowing you can get in to a TS without a prior reservation.

I was texting with Jenny and they were doing their own thing and we wanted to do a thing not far from the restaurant so we planned on meeting up again in a bit. So far we'd had a really relaxing day. Yes I know we only rode two attractions! But we go often enough that we don't need to run to rides and get in all we can, and not having FP's also made us feel more free to roam, arrive when we wanted, and decide on the fly what to do - more than we normally do lol. And the crowds here were way less than at HS and less than at MK it was such a strange and surreal experience!

We spent a little more time in AK and next up is something we hadn't done together in YEARS

 

[Lsdolphin]

I must confess I’m not really a huge Star Wars fan!!! I always make a beeline for the Safari....Love it

 

[pkondz]

Some good news this week from Disney! Fall discounts, CRT and Hollywood and Vine reopening, and the best for me Gaston's opens in 2 days! That means a gigantor cinnamon roll for me in a few weeks

Yay! Love me some Gaston's cinnamon roll.

I know neither of those restaurants may be your favorites

I've actually never been to Hollywood and Vine.

we had a special dinner we'd need to spiffy up for

Ah. Of course. Restaurantosaurus.

And enjoyed a little beach time:

Never thought of doing that, actually! Then again, I'm usually at the parks and not at the resort.
Then again the resort is usually a Value. Not a lot of beaches there.

We were on a bus to AK around 8:30 and arrived around 8:45 to this:

Where is everyone!?!?

AK is Steve's least favorite park. It's not my favorite park although it's made its way up the ladder in recent visits.

It used to be my least fave. But it's really grown on me in recent years. Now I love it.

Saw these beautiful birdies as we approached the Tree of Life, I've never stopped to watch before:

Beautiful, right?

When they all fly over you it's amazing, and also fun to see who they scare. On this day it was a boy of about 12 who freaked a bit when one bird was about 7 inches above his head lol.

Cute skirt.

it was obvious the crowds were not going our way:

Wow! Wish I could go and experience that!

I think you've all seen pics of the plexiglass between rows on the safari trucks so I'll skip that and give you a cool shot of one of my favorite safari animals:

Actually... no I haven't. Had no idea. Thanks for the info.

one of my favorite safari animals:

Did not know that.

My top fave are any big cats but rhinos have intrigued me since I started riding the safari years ago

Love cheetas. Have all my life.

So much so that I did the Up Close with Rhinos tour last year and want to do it again!

That's something I'd like to do too. I think last time I was down, I tried, but it was already sold out by the time I thought of it.

the animals were out and roaming including TWO cheetahs standing UP! Crazy right?

No way! Lucky!

we met up to ride FOP. No wait!

"No wait"...

I left that one big because it's so cute! These are seriously the best, this was by the bridge near the LK show

a handy dandy Landry's card. With that we pushed by all the poor unfortunate non Landry's members souls and had a seat in the restaurant within 4 minutes.

I need to look into this. I mean it's virtually free. Just need to see if I can join if I'm not a US citizen.
From their website: "Landry's Select Club® ("Club") membership is open to all individuals 16 years of age or older legally residing in the United States and countries that legally permit participation."

Yak Attack::

Mango Daiquiri, Don Q Cristal Rum and Wildberry Flavors

That sounds good, but... just not a rum fan. Wonder if they would make it with vodka instead?

Yes I know we only rode two attractions! But we go often enough that we don't need to run to rides and get in all we can,

I am finding that as well. I was going more often and not needing to "do all the things".

We spent a little more time in AK and next up is something we hadn't done together in YEARS

oooohhh… wonder what that is?

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

AK isn’t our favourite park either though youngest son and I like it more than hubby and elder son. Probably because they are wimps who won’t ride Everest . It’s always walk to wall people in July when we go so I’d love to have your experience. Someone mentioned getting Landrys card while living overseas - we signed up for one at DS and got issued temporary card that allowed us to skip the queue right away which was very handy
Those drinks look good

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ahh I do love AK, my favorite park! The bird show is beautiful!
I always like a good Safari and lunch at Yak&Yeti!
Sounds like a perfect day so far!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Some good news this week from Disney! Fall discounts, CRT and Hollywood and Vine reopening, and the best for me Gaston's opens in 2 days! That means a gigantor cinnamon roll for me in a few weeks

Hooray for giant cinnamon rolls!!!!!! CRT is Jimmy's most favorite restaurant (still!) because he gets to see his main squeeze, 'ella! And Rob's favorite restaurant in all of WDW is Hollywood and Vine...I have no idea why, but he always asks me to book there. I'm really excited that things are opening up, and hope the people start heading back down there, too, so more things can open and return to "normal."

I left that one big because it's so cute! These are seriously the best, this was by the bridge near the LK show and we saw them again later over in Asia. I've seen pictures of Meeko and Pocahontas on a boat in AK and I SO hope we see them in a few weeks!

I was so bummed that we missed all the character boats on our AK day in July! The only one we saw was the band, but I have to agree, the boats are SUCH a cute addition!!

I FINALLY got a Landry's card, and was super excited to use it in July...but my Mom looked at the menu and decided she wouldn't like anything there! Can you believe it?! I wanted to strut by the crowds (ha, crowds!) with my card out and my nose in the air!! Oh, well. Maybe next year

 

[Jenny Sanders]

the best for me Gaston's opens in 2 days!

I am beyond excited for this and praying it would be open by our trip!!! Yay!

 

[KathyM2]

Sounds like a great AK day. I love that you can be spontaneous like that and not be bound by FP times. It's hard to imagine how this will go eventually once crowds return...but it's nice that you are getting to enjoy it for now!! That orange drink looked fantastic!