How Soon is Too Soon? A March '17 TR *7/6 Brunch at Cali Grill*

[JessRose]

Joining in! Love your trip report! I went back and read your pre-trippie too. Congrats on your remission and what a great way to celebrate, WDW solo!

So much new stuff to me anyway, that you are doing, I am living it through you!

I am from Arkansas, next trip is visiting my home state Michigan this June. My favorite travel day thing is opening the door to our hotel room and the first meal! I love stepping outside from the airport too. It means I've officially arrived! lol

It's very sad to say but it is a brave thing to watch a parade at Magic Kingdom alone. I went quite a few times as a single mother and grown adults (men and woman) would cut, push and shove us.
I ended up trying to find a spot up on the train station entrance and ask to join a group (very early of course) because there is strength in numbers. I love the idea a taking a pic of them and letting them know they will be on the internet!

I kept thinking that the whole time! If my boyfriend was there, first, he would have no problem telling them to move back, but I would have felt much more comfortable standing up for myself if I wasn't alone. Next time I will just get there even earlier and get a curb spot. I adored this parade!

 

[JessRose]

Uggh, adults who misbehave at Disney are probably the root of 98% of my Disney frustrations! Parades and any shows without specific seating seem to be some of the worst places for them to lurk, too! Glad you still enjoyed it and got some good pictures!

I was discussing this with a good friend of mine! I can count on one hand how many times I've seen a child misbehaving and thinking "Wow kid, get it together." Adults on the other hand...more like I can count the hairs on my head for how many times I've seen bad adult behavior. Don't get me wrong, I'm by no means perfect...there is a story coming up in this trip report where I was (unknowingly) the adult behaving badly...but the husband especially knew he was doing bad as demonstrated by his wife trying to drag him to the back, and him standing his ground.

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Ugh oblivious adults are the worst! It's one thing for kids to do stuff like that, but it's something else entirely when adults do it.

 

[JessRose]

Ugh oblivious adults are the worst! It's one thing for kids to do stuff like that, but it's something else entirely when adults do it.

It is - especially when you know that they know they are misbehaving.

 

[JessRose]

Episode XI: At Last I See...The Cupcakes!

After the parade wrapped up, I didn't actually have a whole lot of anything I wanted to do still...so I decided to take an unscheduled detour to Disney Springs for the afternoon. It was my only opportunity to visit this trip, so I figured I better take advantage. The last time I visited, this place was HEAVILY under construction still. I have to say - it is beautiful and they did a great job on this area. On my Disney bucket list is to do a food/pub crawl around Disney Springs.

I was apparently so mesmerized by it's beauty, I neglected to take any actual photos.

A few weeks prior to my trip, I had been listening to the Dis Unplugged Podcast and Oliver (who I really miss from the show) recommended checking out Uniqlo for awesome Disney Tees at a reasonable price. When I lived in New York, Uniqlo opened their flagship store there and I literally passed 900 Uniqlo adds on my very short walk to the subway every morning. At the time, I could not for the life of me understand the appeal and found their sizes to run INCREDIBLY small. But, I figured I would give it a shot.

While nothing there blew me away, I managed to find three classic sketch Ts I really liked, one of Mickey, one of Minnie and one of Steamboat Willie. They were, I felt, much better quality than any of the Disney Ts I own, and for $45 for the three, they were certainly a good deal. Only bummer was they don't offer an AP discount. I know! Less than six hours in and I'm already bummed no AP discount - spoiled already. I'll need to take a picture later, because I managed to not do that before I wore any of these Ts.

So far, so good.

No trip to Disney Springs would have been complete without a trip to the World of Disney. On my last trip, I got a great DVD here about the Imagineering of the Magic Kingdom. I was hoping to find something similar and on this trip I was on a mission to find some great books about Walt Disney or Disney World.
I asked three cast members if they had anything like that, and each of the three looked at me like I had three heads. The fourth cast member told me they did in fact have quite a few DVDs, found up at the cash registers. Hooray.

Imagine my disappointment when I arrived at the cash registers to find the only DVDs were Pinocchio and Moana. Um...not exactly what I had in mind - but thanks?

Anyway...if anyone has any book or DVD suggestions for me, send them my way!

Feeling a little defeated in the fact I left World of Disney without purchasing anything for. the. first. time. ever. I decided I needed to cheer myself up. And there is only one thing that is guaranteed to do this every time - cupcakes!!

I should preface by saying - my cupcake obsession is out of control. I need to be stopped. I need to be told no. Neither of these things happened here, but I actually felt I was relatively well-behaved. Good for me. I'm growing. I love all cupcakes (except for ones that have that whipped cream crap frosting). I also love muffins, which are really just naked cupcakes. I guesstimate I've sampled roughly 9 gajillion cupcakes in my life, and Sprinkles is by far my favorite cupcake bakery. No joke, when I lived in Phoenix, I picked my apartment based on the proximity to the cupcake ATM. Like I said...out of control.

Our nearest Sprinkles now is in Chicago - a three hour drive away - and I try and manipulate my way into a weekend trip every month or two. I always come up with a cover reason (we need this shelf from IKEA, there's XYZ event) but the real reason behind every trip is cupcakes. Eric, my love, I hope you're not reading this, since I just blew my own cover.

Anyway. I made my way to Sprinkles and HOLY CRAP! The place is HUGE! The one in New York is the size of the supply closet in this joint. They have SO. MANY. OPTIONS! Cornflake Ice Cream? Cupcake Sundaes? Cupcake milkshakes?! How was I EVER going to decide?

Somehow, I managed, and found myself a nice little seat with my treats.

And what is inside those little bags you ask?

Well, I will tell you! My favorite cupcake from Sprinkles is their strawberry. This past summer they also had a lemon meringue and strawberry shortcake ones that were to die for! I was all set to order my usual strawberry, but their feature cupcake caught my eye. It was a vanilla cake with chocolate chips, topped with brown sugar buttercream and rolled in chocolate chip cookie crumbs.

I also HAD to try the salted oatmeal cornflake cookie. When you're adult, on vacation, calories don't count.

The cupcake was...actually a little too sweet for me. I know. I know. I'm as shocked as you are! But man...that oatmeal/cornflake cookie is TOO. DIE. FOR. Chewy. Salty. Sweet. Crunchy. Buttery. Amazing.

I wish I would have ordered a dozen of these...but I didn't. I do know what we'll be getting at Sprinkles in Chicago on our next visit.

To preface...this was at about 5:30-6 o'clock. I had a dinner ADR at 'Ohana for 9:30 that night. So this was to simply "tide me over" until then! Don't judge. Calories don't count.

After my little snack, I headed on out of here and went back to my resort for a brief siesta before it was time for fireworks/dinner.

Up Next: Lapu Lapus, Fireworks on Poly Beach and Dinner at 'Ohana

 

[JessRose]

Episode XII: Lapu Lapus Make My Soul Sing

I had a nice little snooze back at the resort, which officially caught me up on sleep for this vacation. I had a 9:30 ADR at 'Ohana and planned to watch Wishes (for my last time) on the beach at the Poly at 9:00. I left Pop at precisely 8 PM and made the short drive over to the Poly - only to find that there was less than zero parking. Literally - none. I was, begrudgingly, forced to valet my car.

Once inside the Poly - I made my way upstairs to the Tambu Lounge first - because - priorities! It had been more than 24 hours into vacation and I had yet to enjoy this delicacy -

Lapu Lapu in hand, and thirst sufficiently quenched, I made my way down to the Poly beach where a good little crowd had gathered. It was quite chilly and also windy, so I was thankful to have my Lapu Lapu to warm my soul.

I attempted to mess around with my camera settings for the fireworks - but my attempts were futile. I decided to just sit back and enjoy Wishes.

Here's my attempt at an "artsy" or "Instagram-worthy" photo of my Lapu Lapu chilling on the beach -

Side note- I'm not usually an overly-emotional or sentimental person. But man, knowing this was the last time for Wishes - it made me profoundly sad. And the view at the Poly is fine - but not how I felt it should be done to give Wishes a proper goodbye. It was like losing an old friend - this is the only fireworks show I've ever seen at the Magic Kingdom. I sat for a few minutes to let the crowd clear and made my way upstairs to check-in for my 'Ohana ADR.

Somehow - the feast that awaited me was able to cheer me up. There was work to be done, ya'll!

I did have to wait about 20 minutes after my ADR time because there were some lingerers who stayed for Wishes and 'Ohana is also notorious for running behind.

At any case, I was shown my table and I was prepared to feast. On my previous trip three years ago, we had an absolutely incredible meal here aided by Lori and Cliff. I was both extremely sad (for selfish reasons) but very happy to learn they have both since retired. Congrats to them both, but they were sorely missed by me.

In my former life as a pescetarian (a vegetarian that eats fish), I really didn't think 'Ohana would have much to offer me, but I was thrilled at the time to find that they had more than enough to offer a non-meat eater! I enjoyed the meal so much that I asked my waiter if it was possible to have the pescetarian meal again. It was late at night, so I wasn't sure they would be able to accommodate, but I was thrilled when Chef Boone stopped out and told me they could make the magic happen.

And I apologize, I only took pictures on my phone. I felt like I was literally sat on top of the party on both sides of me, so I didn't want to whip out my DSLR.

My first course was the salad - the same as what everyone else gets. Personally, I miss the old salad from years ago. I like the addition of the crispy wontons, but could do without the edamame and red peppers. Also, I really like red onions, but they went a little nuts with them on my salad. The dressing though...man. I could drink a glass of it (calories don't count on vacation, remember). Its the perfect dipping sauce for the bread.

This was a really large portion for one person...but I ate it all. LOVE 'Ohana salad!

Next up was a trio of dips: Red Pepper Hummus, Regular Hummus and Red Pepper Pesto, served with wonton chips and flatbread crisps.

I LOVE this. All of these. So much I ate. it. all.

Next up was the fun(ner) stuff. I got the noodles and the stir fried vegetables. Delicious!

My next course (we're up to 4 now if you're keeping score) was a pleasant surprise and not something we got last time...

This salmon doesn't look all that exciting, but it was DELICIOUS and perfectly cooked, not over done at all. I loved this!

A little too soon after the salmon arrived, so did this...basically the same stir fry veggies, with the addition of a whole lot of tofu! I loved this and thought it was even better with the ginger sauce.

I also got some of the fabulous shrimp!

Eric (my boyfriend, who was stuck back at home for this trip due to work and other travel commitments), decided this would be a perfect time to FaceTime. Sure. Let me just sit here and stuff my face while you watch. There was simply too much food to deal with, and with tables seated on either side of me...I felt pretty rude trying to FaceTime, so we said good night.

Just to demonstrate the scope of food I was dealing with here...

I was stuffed beyond reason at this point. Absolutely stuffed.

But there was NO way I was foregoing dessert. No WAY.

I was so stuffed at this point, despite the fact I had been dreaming about this dessert for years...I could only manage a few bites.

I begged my server for a to go container. And he thankfully took mercy upon me. I feel horrible because I can't remember my server's name...other than it started with an A. But he was wonderful and so kind.

I full on pregnancy-waddled my butt out of 'Ohana, more than satisfied. Only to get to my car and realize not only had I forgotten my cell phone on the table, I had forgotten my precious goods! My amazing, luscious, buttery, caramely, bread pudding!

I RAN back upstairs, knowing it was closing time and I was probably too late. Not to mention, I wasn't supposed to be smuggling out delicious bread pudding goods in the first place. THANK GOD my server not only found my cell phone, but he saved the bread pudding. Breakfast for the next morning was saved!

All in all, I know people either love or hate 'Ohana, but I happen to LOVE IT. Next time Eric will be joining me, so this will definitely be a meat lovers affair, but I still might ask for the hummus and chips and some tofu in our stir-fried veg. The bread pudding is my favorite dessert on property!

After a very long day, I made one last stop at the concierge to ask about the valet parking. I know it wasn't a HUGE deal - however, I did have an ADR at the resort, and wanted to see if the would comp the valet parking I was forced to take advantage of. The concierge informed me their parking was full due to a DVC event at Magic Kingdom that night and that many participants parked at the Poly in order to monorail over. He was able to comp the valet and I was on my merry little way. I slept sooooo good that night!

Up Next: Lions and Tigers and Bears and The River of Light

 

[Reflections of Earth]

Just got all caught up! I am so impressed that almost every single ride was walk on for you guys!

I cannot believe you spent $25 on TWO things at Walgreens, the prices are raised way too high there. On a happier note, your lemon cream puff looks delicious!

Yay for upgrading to an AP! Memento Mori is one of my favorite gift shops, I also love that it is themed after HM.

I LOVE 'Ohana. Everything you ate looks wonderful. If you don't walk out of there waddling, you didn't do the meal the right way.

 

[LISAMWDW]

 

[anniebean]

Love your report so far!

I had the Hawaii trip for my 40th bday back in October. It makes getting older a whole lot easier!! Now I'm trying to convince my hubby we need to move there.

We have Ohana scheduled for our September trip. I can't wait for the bread pudding!!

 

[JessRose]

Just got all caught up! I am so impressed that almost every single ride was walk on for you guys!

I cannot believe you spent $25 on TWO things at Walgreens, the prices are raised way too high there. On a happier note, your lemon cream puff looks delicious!

Yay for upgrading to an AP! Memento Mori is one of my favorite gift shops, I also love that it is themed after HM.

I LOVE 'Ohana. Everything you ate looks wonderful. If you don't walk out of there waddling, you didn't do the meal the right way.

I really wish they would make all of (or at least more of) the gift shops like Memento Mori. I tend to spend way more in a shop like Memento Mori or the Tower of Terror gift shop if it fits the theme of something I adore. I can get Disney notebooks at Target - don't need to go all the way to Florida for them

Thanks for joining!

Love your report so far!

I had the Hawaii trip for my 40th bday back in October. It makes getting older a whole lot easier!! Now I'm trying to convince my hubby we need to move there.

We have Ohana scheduled for our September trip. I can't wait for the bread pudding!!

We are actually going to stay at The Poly for our September trip. We're planning to do the Ohana Feast from ROOM SERVICE. Should be quite entertaining if nothing else!

 

[JessRose]

So, I'll just go ahead and accept my award for the worst, and least timely trip report writer in the history of the world.

Business has been booming - certainly a great thing, but it hasn't left for a whole lot of free time.

Fear not, another update is coming really soon! I'm just waiting on almost 2,000 photos from Day 3 to upload to Photobucket - using hotel wifi. Oh boy!

 

[JessRose]

Episode XIII: The Kingdom of Animals

When asked which one of the Disney parks is my favorite - I can never give an answer because I love each of the parks for extremely different reasons.

I love Animal Kingdom because I think the park is visually stunning. Its gorgeous, breathtaking and majestic. Its funny that I'm writing this part of my report today (purely out of coincidence because we happen to be out of town in Timbuktu for a wedding of Eric's old co-worker and there literally is nothing else to do!) given that Pandora is FINALLY open! I'll be there exactly one week from today and I'm just praying that the lines aren't as crazy as they were today. The highest I saw was 4 hours for Flight of Passage, but more worrisome is that there was a 2 hour wait just to enter Pandora, which was at capacity. Best of luck to those that are there today. Hopefully you're in the air conditioning at least!

Anyway...back to the task at hand.

Day 3 had me headed to Animal Kingdom. There were morning Extra Magic Hours, from 8AM - 9AM, so I left the resort at about 7:15.

The drive from Pop Century to Animal Kingdom is an exceptionally easy one - with literally only two turns to make. In no time at all, I was pulling under the sign...

As you can see, the traffic this early was intense and certainly nothing like what I encountered at the Magic Kingdom the previous morning.

There was a small crowd gathered after security, but very manageable. I took the opportunity to pop into the camera store in search of a tripod for my camera - and was disappointed to find they don't sell them.

I have an unhealthy obsession with the safari and could ride it all day, so that was the day's first plan of attack.

I resisted the urge to take pictures on the way, but by the time I made it to the safari ride, I was told it was down for maintenance and they weren't sure when it would open for the morning. Since I didn't really have any other plans for the morning other than my FastPass+ reservations for both Festival of the Lion King and Nemo - I decided to pause and take pictures.

You can see there was quite a crowd from the mad dash---It was at this point that I realized while I was making a mad dash towards the safari, no one was heading back from the safari. Apparently having no idea when the ride would open for the morning actually meant it opened about 30 seconds later.

No big deal, but that little snafu did delay me about 15 minutes.

I was so excited to be on my first safari ride of the trip - and it did NOT disappoint.

I was so excited to see the Black Rhino up and about - they've always been snoozing in the past!

The cattle were also out in full force this morning...

I don't remember there being hyenas on the safari at all. Are the a recent addition in the last few years?

Oh hey there! Its a baby giraffe!!

I was really bummed out because my camera was not focused properly when we came through the elephants, and it was the only time that the baby elephant (squeal!) was out on any of the safaris.

Can you spot the baby?

Hey there big guy!

As luck would have it, the lions were also awake this morning!

And Pumba!

Another close encounter with a lion!

I can't remember what these guys were called...but they were always out and about for me on the safari!

I also don't remember the waterfalls being here?

Overall, it was a great safari - I wish my pictures would have better captured it, because it was great!

Where do you think I was off to next?

 

[MeghanEmily]

Great update I also love the safari. It's one of my favourite things to do at Disney.

Oh hey there! Its a baby giraffe!!

So precious!!

 

[TXMNie]

Joining along! I am enjoying reading your trip report! O'Hana's pescatarian options look amazing! We loved it when we visited last time.

 

[JessRose]

Great update I also love the safari. It's one of my favourite things to do at Disney.



So precious!!

I literally could ride the safari all day long. When I think of the safari, I think of how its definitely a one-of-a-kind experience - no one will ever be able to recreate what they've done there.

Joining along! I am enjoying reading your trip report! O'Hana's pescatarian options look amazing! We loved it when we visited last time.

Thanks for joining! Ohana will definitely remain in our permanent rotation I think!

 

[JessRose]

Episode XIV: The Kingdom of Animals (Part 2)

After a brief delay and riding the safari to kick of my morning...I figured the next natural step would be...another ride on the safari! I had a time to kill before my FastPass+ for Festival of the Lion King, so figured...why not?

Part of what I love about Animal Kingdom is the incredible theming. This safari vehicle with a flat tire is part of the great theming. I also love the guest house here...

I made my way to the Safari booking desk...

And kept making my way through the queue. Clearly, it didn't take long for them to clear out the morning rush...

I asked to be at the end of the row, so I could get better pictures...and was delighted to find out I was given an ENTIRE ROW to myself. How awesome!

This safari, like the first - did NOT disappoint. It might have been the best safari I've been on.

The Okapi was hiding on my first safari, so I was glad to see they were gracing us with their presence.

Next up were these guys...I cannot remember what they are called though - can anyone help me out?

The hippos were still being bashful...as they usually are.

I loved this shot of the pelicans sunning themselves...

Oh my! What have we here?! Well...this would be hippos! Out of the water! I don't ever recall seeing them out of the water before - so this was pretty awesome!

It was apparently too hot for the crocodiles, they were all hiding underwater.

I also really liked this picture of the baobab tree - with the light shining through.

I like this picture of the cattle much better than the first one.

Hyenas on the prowl...

He's off in the distance, but there is definitely a water buffalo...

This little guy looks lost!

Here's mommy with TWO baby giraffes.

The giraffes were playing and chasing after each other - it was hard to capture in a photo, but exciting to see in person.

This one is grabbing some breakfast...

And we had another baby on the left-hand side of us...

I think this might have been mommy looking after things across the road...

The elephant is hungry too...

And here is the baby elephant from the first safari...hiding from us!

This was definitely the most active I had seen the elephants as well.

Hi Mr. Ducky

Really loved this one with the flamingos, palm trees, the safari truck and baobab tree.

Animal Kingdom's version of Pride Rock.

Nala and Simba were both awake and alert!

White Rhinos were still hanging out, with the eggs in the foreground. Does anyone know if these are just a prop - or real? They've been in this general area every time I've done the safari...going back at least 8 years!

Zebras and more...

When I said I really enjoyed the safari, I wasn't kidding. This one was SO awesome that I wanted to ride again right away. I stopped to check out this guy, also enjoying some breakfast...

This guy was at the start of the Pangani Exploration Trail, which was my next stop.

 

[JessRose]

Episode XV: Naptime on the Savannah

I took a little break from the safari to enjoy the Pangani Exploration Trail. TOTALLY worth it if you haven't done it.

This fish were so bright and colorful. The pictures really do not do them justice.

The best part about the trail though, is the gorillas.

This one was not being particularly social.

Can you spot the other gorilla?

Here's a better look at him...

The water features on this trail are also great!

The bamboo was also super cool!

After Pangani...would you believe that I went on...another safari?

I'll try and limit the pictures this time, I promise.

The crocodiles had definitely come out in full force by now!

And my baby giraffes had tired of playing at this point, and were resting sweetly on the savannah.

Apparently, everyone was resting nicely.

This young guy is always on his own!

These guys were up close and personal!

It was also nap time for the lions as well...

Even these guys were tired!

While this wasn't the best safari I had done, it was still pretty awesome!

Next up, it was time to use my second FastPass+ of the day (the first was used on one of the safari rides...) at Festival of the Lion King!

 

[JessRose]

Episode XVI: Festival of the Lion King & Finding Nemo

I was really looking forward to seeing Festival of the Lion King on this trip. On my lasts trip it was closed. I had thought this was do to them somehow updating the show - but it seemed to be the same old same old to me. The same old same old is pretty amazing though.

I love this show because I don't think there is a bad seat in the house and there is just so much happening. I found it really difficult to photograph, but here are my best attempts.

After FOTLK, I made my way back across the bridge to Harambe and got this great shot - no editing needed.

I had to make a mad dash to my next FastPass+ reservation - which was for Finding Nemo. By the time I arrived, they had already let in both the FastPass+ and standby queues, but I still managed to snag a relatively good seat on the end of the row - which I guess is a perk of traveling solo.

Here are my best pictures from Nemo...

At this point, I was absolutely starving, so I was thrilled that it was time for my reservation at Tiffins for the Rivers of Light Dining Package.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Enjoying your trip report!

I've loved collecting Imagineering books-I always had a dream of becoming an Imagineer, and honestly, if I really really wanted to, I have the contact now that I could probably pull it off. But I prefer instead working for my current company, which has Disney as a client. So that way I get to work on other projects, as well as the occasional Disney project, without ruining all of the magic.

Anyways, here are some books I've loved and keep in a prime spot on my bookshelf:
https://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Imagineering-Behind-Dreams/dp/0786883723
https://www.amazon.com/Disney-Mountains-Imagineering-Its-Peak/dp/1423101553

 

[TXMNie]

Excited to hear your thoughts on Tiffins and Rivers of Light! I love the shows in AK - I feel like they are often not raved about as much as they deserve!