"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[Steppesister]

I've read the last 2 updates, but am out of time to comment more tonight. Just wanted to say, I'm still really enjoying all of your stories and photos!

 

[MeghanEmily]

həlo frɛndz! ðɪs ɪz maɪ laɪf raɪt naʊ. ɪf ju kæn rid ðɪs, aɪm sɒri fɔr ju.

If you can read or recognize the text above, then you won't be surprised to hear that I'm studying for my Phonetics midterm this weekend! The above is written in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), and I'm up to my eyeballs in vowels and dipthongs right now.

If none of that made sense to you...I envy you.

I'm hoping to get at least one more full day of this TR finished before our next trip. Maybe more. And then I'll probably be on hiatus the week we're away.

In the meantime, I've also been working on planning our August trip because our first 180-day mark will take place while we're in WDW. I'm not 100% sure if/where we'll fit it in, but I'm thinking I might like to try out another new-to-us signature restaurant for dinner on the August trip. (Unless we fall so madly in love with one of the meals from this upcoming trip that we feel we MUST book it again...) Somehow, our Disney trips always seem to become about the food...Nom....

So far for August, N wants le Cellier for our anniversary, but we don't have any other signature dinners in mind. (Some others we'll have tried in past will include: Tiffins, Jiko, Citricos, Brown Derby, CRT (signature-ish...), and I'd been to Fulton's Crab House, but haven't been since it was changed to Paddlefish. I was considering Yachtsman, Artist Point (an excuse to return to WL), Flying Fish, or Narcoossee’s. Does anyone have any suggestions/reviews/advice?

Replies coming as soon as I think I need another study break...​

 

[pkondz]

If you can read or recognize the text above, then you won't be surprised to hear that I'm studying for my Phonetics midterm this weekend!

I read it. Easier than I thought it would be!

The above is written in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

Interesting! Didn't know such a thing existed.

and I'm up to my eyeballs in vowels and dipthongs right now.

Family board. No photos of you in a dipthong allowed.
And definitely don't want to see Nathan in one!

I'm thinking I might like to try out another new-to-us signature restaurant for dinner on the August trip.

Which one? The ones listed later? Or a different one?

Yachtsman, Artist Point (an excuse to return to WL), Flying Fish, or Narcoossee’s.

Sorry. Haven't been to any. But... Mr. Paul was wonderful.

 

[pooh'smate]

Yachtsman is AMAING!!! We went there on our last trip and it was the best meal ever. I still dream about the truffle mac and cheese.

 

[buzzrelly]

I don't know how I fell so far behind, but I still have to go back and read two more pages but I had already started quoting and I'm off to work so I'll come back and read those later!

we were disappointed. I knew not to expect any grand gestures of pixie dust, despite the fact that we'd marked our honeymoon on the reservation...but they hadn't honored either of our room requests.

Honestly, this is crazy! If they are going to give ANYONE a King room, give it to the honeymooners!

But before we did, we had a pitstop to make first...something we were very excited to be able to do at the Poly...

...get dole whip!!

Yum!

We shared our dole whip, while wearing these...

Love those!

Apparently he pulled out a bunch of drugs from under his counter and sold N some individually-wrapped motion sickness pills. Who knew that Disney CMs were dealing under the counter!?

Oh, my!

they gave us a plate of free cupcakes! .

Cute!

giraffes are my primary reason for safari-loving, (and possibly for existence in general,) and they got really close to the truck this evening!

More wedding pixie dust, just for you guys

For me, however, it was kind of a nightmare. It made me incredibly motion sick, and I ended up having to close my eyes for most of it. By the time I started closing my eyes, though, it was too late, and the continued motion of the ride vehicle just made me increasingly swimmy.

Bummer! I love that ride! Maybe next time bring your own Bonine and try again?

This morning we had a new breakfast spot on the docket, and I was excited to go. We got up early and I took a few photos from our window...

So pretty! I do love the grounds at the Poly

And when we finished, we went back to the DVC desk where they had our $100 gift card for us, as promised, and they loaded our extra free FPs.

Awesome! Do they let current DVC owners take the tour? Sign me up!

We chatted for a while with her and the other CM there, and when we went to take our dole whip and pay, they told us it was on the house. So much Disney pixie dust magic!!

Sweet!

I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so we got him to take this:

It looks like Nate has horns growing out of the sides of his head!

Miss Adventure Falls was pretty fun—not that you can tell from our faces in the photos below—but I'm not sure I'd wait very long for it again.

I forgot they added a new ride. We love TL!

N decided, since we'd already had some concerns with the room, that he'd stop in to the desk and check with the same CM about it if he was there. Well...that CM wasn't in yet, but N spoke with someone else. They had given us a king bed, and on the upper floor. That was great. That would have been 100% perfect, if that's what we'd been told yesterday. But N was kinda peeved that the CM had promised him a lagoon view and made us think that's what we would be getting, only to have us in a different longhouse without the view. The new CM told us that our new room had a Luau view, and that we must have just misheard. So N showed the new CM on the map which longhouse and which side the old CM had pointed out to him, and the new CM told N that there weren't even any rooms of that type available there and that the last guy had made a mistake! I'm not sure how he had made a mistake, since he had located a room in their computer system for us and had shown it to N on the map?? Anyway! New CM was also quite rude to N and didn't seem at all interested in apologizing for the confusion, let alone doing anything about the situation, or talking to the old CM about it when he got in, etc. N was pretty ticked off about the whole situation, and I didn't love it either, but I was just grateful that they were able to move us to a room that matched both of our original requests.

P.S. N went back that evening to check in with the old CM about "what else they could do for us," (his words), just like he'd told N to when he gave him the impression that he might be working on some pixie dust for us. And suddenly it was like that had never been said, and the CM acted as if the whole situation never happened. I don't want to sound entitled or anything. I didn't go into this trip expecting to be given any pixie dust for our honeymoon. I would have been totally fine if, originally, the CM had told us that there wasn't any room available to move us to, and that was that. No big deal! We were at the Poly, and that was awesome. And I was also perfectly happy with the new room they gave us. The only thing that really was grinding my gears was that the CM offered something they couldn't/wouldn't deliver on, we got all excited for our new awesome room, and then there was no apology or acknowledgement for it. And then the same thing happened after the fact for the pixie dust we were supposed to come back for. The whole thing was the weirdest experience I've ever had with CMs at Disney, and we also experienced more rudeness from both CMs the second day than I've ever seen. It was the worst customer service experience we've had at WDW, and it just put a slight damper on being at the Poly, which, being such a pricey deluxe resort, we had expected to be oozing with good vibes and positive guest relations.

So sorry, that must've been super frustrating for you both. They shouldn't make promises they have no intention of keeping.

I didn't realize that all the pictures they took would be with a fisheye lens, so we're kinda round-ish in them, but I like them anyway.

Great pics, grey and all! I love the new FishEye photos.

I'm not sure when I'll ever wear it again except on vacation, but I got lots of compliments on it on this trip. N insisted on a picture of it once we got back to the room.

Adorable!

We curled up in front of the tv and intended to have an early night. I popped out onto the balcony with my camera and was able to snap this beauty...

Ahhhhhh

 

[MeghanEmily]

Your plans sound really nice, I hope you get a more laid back trip and I hope we can say Hi

We are doing US and I have FP at MK if we feel up to it when we get back.

We are going to try to check out Festival of the Arts at least once before it ends to.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Universal! And also to checking out the Festival of Arts. I hope you enjoy them!

Hoop de Doo and Beaches and Cream were the things that jumped at me from your itinerary! Both are things that I really want to try on our next trip. So glad you're going to have some couple time and some alone time on this trip!!! Sounds delightful.

I'm really looking forward to Hoop Dee Doo—it'll be our first time, and I've heard so much about it! We've done Beaches and Cream once before (honeymoon) and it was pretty great, even for someone who needs to eat dairy free ice cream. It's SO small inside. But we split a burger and the No Way Jose, and it was wild. We're really looking forward to going back

Your plans sound great! It will be a nice reward after all the work you're putting in for school!

I like your idea for sharing your February trip It doesn't always have to be something long and drawn out, showcasing just the highlights is good too!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to a break, and feeling like I've worked hard and deserve it! And thank you—I think that might be a good way to go about sharing some highlights without overwhelming myself or everyone reading too much.

I hope you do like the horse trail riding. I am really interested in it because my dd LOVES horses and we go on trail rides here but would like to know what the one at Disney is like.

I think it'll be fun! It seems like it's definitely a beginner-level experience, so probably not exciting for a really advanced rider or anything, but for someone who wants a simple trail ride and likes horses, it seems like fun!

Your plans look great! Jiko sounds amazing, I plan on trying it on my next trip as well!

I hope you are able to get the lantern photo! I have seen so many photos of it and it is so pretty!

I keep meaning to get the lantern photo and then I forget, or we don't go back to the park at night, etc. It's gonna happen this time! I'm determined! It's such a pretty photo

Um... considering the weather they had there recently... you might want to pick a different word than "chill".

True enough...maybe I should have reconsidered that. It seems so unpredictable...which I guess is typical for central Florida...predictably unpredictable? Nathan said that where he was in Orlando, there were a couple of days this past week that dipped down a little, but also a lot of afternoons that were really pleasant. That's what I'm hoping for!

Yes. There is that. But... there is also "Guess what I did!"
I think you'll enjoy the solo life.

I'm kind of thinking that, too. We'll see, I guess!

I had no idea they did that!

Yeah! It doesn't seem to be common knowledge. I'm wondering whether that's because it's a hidden gem, or bad enough/not worth it enough that people just don't recommend it. I'll find out soon!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I became really happy at first, reading about how the Poly was going above and beyond to help you guys out, but I guess that all went out the window! I can understand your frustration over what went down. It was wrong of that CM to make promises or imply extra touches that he had no intentions of delivering on. Did he think you guys would forget? Or was he just hoping you would get your new room via text and not go back to the desk to try and talk to him?
At least you guys were able to enjoy the Dole Whips that are available at the resort (and one for free!) and have a quick walk to your Kona breakfast.
I'm with N on the Tonga Toast, though. Too sweet for my taste...

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of bringing an allergy-friendly meal out...with cupcakes. That's a case where someone's heart is in the right place but perhaps not their head.

Sorry Flights of Passage did not go well for you. At least it was after your safari ride so you got to see some giraffes and rhinos!

Loved your shirts that you wore to Epcot. I feel like I need to get Alex the work one. Maybe there's one that says "I deploy so we can splurge on deluxes."

I'll have to keep my eye out for that famous snail in April!

The Poly situation was definitely frustrating. I don't consider myself particularly high maintenance or demanding. But it was really annoying and kinda patronizing how it all went down. But there were lots of good things about our Poly stay, so in the end, no real harm done.

FoP definitely wasn't my ride, but the rest of the evening was good! Always good to have a particularly enjoyable safari

Yes! Disney deployment shirt!

We will be down for a quick trip for my birthday February 17-19th! If I bump into you I’ll say hi!

Have a great trip!! And a little early

I was pretty blown away too. I think it's my new fave at WDW.

It's really an amazing ride...

Aw, man. I'm so sorry it was bad enough to make you call it a night. Such a bummer!

...but of course, not a good ride for me! Worth a try though!

This whole situation is awful. Like you say, it would have been so much better if they'd just been up front and honest with you in the first place.

It really wasn't a good scene. I'm not a super demanding person. I was happy with whatever they could do, even if that was nothing. But giving us the run around was really lame on their part.

I've read the last 2 updates, but am out of time to comment more tonight. Just wanted to say, I'm still really enjoying all of your stories and photos!

I'm glad you're here!

I read it. Easier than I thought it would be!

Yeah, a lot of the consonant symbols are the same as our alphabet, which helps a lot!

Interesting! Didn't know such a thing existed.

It is interesting! The bane of my existence right now, but otherwise pretty cool. It's neat because it can be applied to any language. The tough thing is to remind yourself to just listen to the sounds in a word and not think about the English spellings. Like, there's not a symbol specifically for the letter "c" because it doesn't really have a sound. You can have a /k/ sound or an /s/ sound for the letter "c," but that's kinda it.

Family board. No photos of you in a dipthong allowed.
And definitely don't want to see Nathan in one!

Teehehe oops. Content warning!

Sorry. Haven't been to any. But... Mr. Paul was wonderful.

So I've heard! It might have to make the list, too... Soo many choices!

Yachtsman is AMAING!!! We went there on our last trip and it was the best meal ever. I still dream about the truffle mac and cheese.

Ooh good to know! Thanks for the review!!

I don't know how I fell so far behind, but I still have to go back and read two more pages but I had already started quoting and I'm off to work so I'll come back and read those later!

I have an issue with sporadic updates, so not entirely your fault there!

Honestly, this is crazy! If they are going to give ANYONE a King room, give it to the honeymooners!

Right!?

Bummer! I love that ride! Maybe next time bring your own Bonine and try again?

After this experience I said I'd never try it again, but I actually did end up trying it in the winter with some drugs. Still a big no for me. But now I know!

So pretty! I do love the grounds at the Poly

It's so beautiful!

It looks like Nate has horns growing out of the sides of his head!

Bahaha I definitely hadn't seen it that way, but I can't unsee it now!

So sorry, that must've been super frustrating for you both. They shouldn't make promises they have no intention of keeping.

I agree! We had a great stay otherwise, and our room was perfectly nice enough. It's just the run around that went with the experience that was really unprofessional and disappointing.

 

[ewalshslp]

Good Luck on your phonetics exam! You'll do great!!

I am laughing to myself because I read the first part in IPA and didn't even think anything of it! LOL!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Good Luck on your phonetics exam! You'll do great!!

I am laughing to myself because I read the first part in IPA and didn't even think anything of it! LOL!!

Thank you!! I'm already noticing a typo, using /rɛd/ instead of /rid/. Oops! Hmm...I guess I'm not goofing off on the Dis...I'm just studying! ...hmmm, let's see what else I can fix...got to get that "Canadian" pronunciation of "sorry"...hehe

I was vaguely familiar with IPA because of my music background. We used to use it occasionally to transcribe our vowels when we were singing in unfamiliar languages. But I never had to do full transcriptions, and I always had symbol charts in front of me. I really feel for people from non-music/non-linguistics background though because they're seeing this for the first time! The fact that you read it without batting an eye gives me hope for my future!

We've also learned about how there are some interesting regional differences between Canadian and American English vowels. The common opinion seems to be that we don't usually differentiate between /ɔ/ and /ɑ/, opting for a more rounded variant of /ɑ/ that falls somewhere in between-ish. My professor said something about how we just don't really have /ɔ/ in Canadian English...but I know that's the vowel I use in words like "torn," so I think that's just not 100% true. But it was fun going around the class and seeing if people said words the same way or differently, like "caught" versus "cot," etc. We have fun times in Phonetics!

 

[pkondz]

True enough...maybe I should have reconsidered that. It seems so unpredictable...which I guess is typical for central Florida...predictably unpredictable?

Nathan said that where he was in Orlando, there were a couple of days this past week that dipped down a little, but also a lot of afternoons that were really pleasant. That's what I'm hoping for!

Of course! Fair weather!

Yeah! It doesn't seem to be common knowledge. I'm wondering whether that's because it's a hidden gem, or bad enough/not worth it enough that people just don't recommend it. I'll find out soon!

You'll find out, I think.

It is interesting! The bane of my existence right now, but otherwise pretty cool. It's neat because it can be applied to any language. The tough thing is to remind yourself to just listen to the sounds in a word and not think about the English spellings. Like, there's not a symbol specifically for the letter "c" because it doesn't really have a sound. You can have a /k/ sound or an /s/ sound for the letter "c," but that's kinda it.

I get that. K or S. No "C".

Teehehe oops. Content warning!

 

[missjackiemcg]

We are not adventurous eaters, but I thought I'd throw in a vote for Highway in the Sky, which including lots of things I never would have tried or ordered myself! It includes stops at The Wave, The Polynesian, and Grand Floridian, and was just perfect for us to taste bites specially prepared by chefs from each location. It was a little pricey, but for what we received we felt it was more than worth the cost!

 

[MeghanEmily]

We are not adventurous eaters, but I thought I'd throw in a vote for Highway in the Sky, which including lots of things I never would have tried or ordered myself! It includes stops at The Wave, The Polynesian, and Grand Floridian, and was just perfect for us to taste bites specially prepared by chefs from each location. It was a little pricey, but for what we received we felt it was more than worth the cost!

Hmm, that's also crossed my mind before. We might have to try our luck with that one. I haven't tried to go for it before because I don't think there'd be much there for me, between the food allergies and the fact that I can't drink. But I that Nathan would get a lot out of it and he'd really love it. And you never know, I guess. I didn't expect to be accommodated as well on our Wild Africa Trek, but as I'll discuss at some point, they fed me really well and everything was interesting! Spoiler alert: one thing we are finally planning to splurge on for August though is the Cali Grill brunch!! NOM!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I haven't tried to go for it before because I don't think there'd be much there for me, between the food allergies and the fact that I can't drink.

Oh, duh, how could I forget that!? They asked about food allergies beforehand and called us again the night before to confirm any allergies or special requests for dietary restrictions, which I thought was very thorough! When we checked in, they even asked again. One lady couldn't have shellfish, so they subbed anything fishy for her...not sure what they gave her though. We also had some kids with our group and a lady who wasn't drinking alcoholic beverages--they brought her other options at every stop. The tastiest of which was a non-alcoholic pina colada looking concoction at The Poly....yummm!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oh, duh, how could I forget that!? They asked about food allergies beforehand and called us again the night before to confirm any allergies or special requests for dietary restrictions, which I thought was very thorough! When we checked in, they even asked again. One lady couldn't have shellfish, so they subbed anything fishy for her...not sure what they gave her though. We also had some kids with our group and a lady who wasn't drinking alcoholic beverages--they brought her other options at every stop. The tastiest of which was a non-alcoholic pina colada looking concoction at The Poly....yummm!!

That's good to know! I remember being surprised at how well they handled allergies on Wild Africa Trek, so I shouldn't be surprised they have a good plan in place for this. We might just have to give it a try!

 

[MeghanEmily]

"I'm Not Cultured. I Just Watch a Lot of Masterchef."
Disney Day 7 - Part 1

This morning we were up at 7:00am, out the door at 7:20am, and on a monorail to the MK! I just love the convenience of the monorail resorts!

Once we arrived at our destination, we were held at the train station until about 7:50. This was back when the new welcome show procedure at MK was still a fairly new development, so having our first ever PPO breakfast wasn't quite as exciting as it would have been, otherwise. Everyone was let in to Main Street...but we were of the lucky few who got to proceed beyond the castle! We had an 8:10 ADR for breakfast at Be Our Guest!

I tried to get a picture of the castle without too much awkward scrim in the way. Only somewhat successful...

Before we snuck back into any empty Fantasyland, we stopped for a moment for PP photos. These all turned out terribly, so I'll just post one. I did, however, have fun using two near-identical shots of us in front of the castle to try to remove the other tourists from the background of the shot...instead of listening in my Hearing Disorders class this morning. Oops. Eventually I also decided that it was too much work, and I gave up, so you're left with this one instead...

As we made a left at the castle, we saw a CM holding a sign for PPO ADRS.

And also these CMs who were guarding the path.

I know that PPO breakfasts don't have the same effect with the new welcome show procedures, but if you're doing Be Our Guest it's still pretty magical to walk through an empty New Fantasyland. This was one of my favourite little memories.

I stopped for N to take this picture of me, and the people coming up behind him were hardcore judging. And I did not care.

We were headed this way...

We went inside, had already pre-ordered, were the second family in line, and found a seat quickly.

For the first time, I finally got to eat in the West Wing and take pathetically terrible photos of the Prince's portrait!

I'd been trying to get a table in the West Wing for years now! The verdict? I didn't love it. The theming was cool, and I'm glad I finally got there, but it was SOO dark that I couldn't see my food. I much prefer the library/music box room.

N got the open-faced breakfast sandwich, and because of my allergies he got to enjoy the pastry plate by himself.

I got an allergy version of the Feast a la Gaston, and I had my own little plate of Erin McKenna's tea cakes! Delish! (Banana chocolate chip: yum! Lemon: meh. Raspberry chocolate: yum!)

The food was pretty good, and even though it's a pricey breakfast, I don't find it ridiculously unreasonable for what you get. You're paying a bit for the experience and atmosphere in the Beast's castle. The food was good, and portions weren't ginormous, but they weren't super small either. With the pastries included, we left full, and I still had extra GF cake for later. I would definitely book this again, but not a must-do.

At some point in the meal, N had been making some comment about not knowing what a particular thing on the menu was or something, and so I gave him a basic description of the food item. He started telling me about how very cultured I am, and I responded, "I'm not cultured. I just watch a lot of Masterchef." Hence this chapter title. I guarantee that if our breakfast dishes had been on Masterchef, though, Chef Ramsey would have reamed out the chef for the plating!!

The great thing about this breakfast was that we were outta' there by 8:30, and enjoying more of the sights of New Fantasyland, unimpeded by crowds.

We noticed that people were already lining up by the fence for 7DMT, and we decided to get in line and ride it at rope drop. I took a selfie, and N still hadn't gotten over his morning groggy-grumpy thing. And it was also already pretty hot. I told him I'd take another one and that he had to smile. The result?

At 8:53 we were led over to the entrance of Mine Train.

I had never ridden standby before, and I thought the queue line and the games were neat! We had a fun ride, and I was pleased to find that our ride photo came out looking like a cheesey Disney advertisement:

While this certainly wasn't our busiest of days, it did have a lot of photos, so I'm going to take my first break here so I don't hit my photo limit. Next up, we were headed to meet some very animated royal princesses...​

 

[MeghanEmily]

"I'm Not Cultured. I Just Watch a Lot of Masterchef."
Disney Day 7 - Part 2

Part 2, coming at you already...because it's mostly just pictures with characters. I have no regrets.

After our ride on 7DMT, we went straight over to Princess Fairytale Hall. I had brought our photo mat with us today, and I wanted to make it my mission to get lots of signatures while I had it on my person because it was annoying to carry it around. Tiana and Rapunzel's line seemed to develop longer waits more quickly, so that's where we went first.

Rapunzel was very interactive this morning! It was a wonderful surprise! I'd heard about a lot of people having great experiences with her, but my last couple had been disappointing. Not this one!

Also...sorry for the giant photos...I forgot to resize them, and now I don't want to bother going back to fix them.

Fun TR Challenge: CAPTION THIS PHOTO (below)...

We saw Tiana next:

Anyone else find it difficult to stand next to Tiana with her giant dress!?

After PFTH, I just hadn't gotten quite enough princess loving in, so we went over to visit Merida! Her M&G opened at 9:15, so we got there before she started meeting and the line was still fairly short.

An aside: while we were in line here, there were two kids (aged 4-6) who were playing around, fairly quietly, staying closeby to a woman (mother?) who seemed to be their guardian. They were fascinated by the Disney ducks hanging out nearby, and they decided to divide up the ducks between them so they knew which ducks belonged to which kid. Makes total sense to me! The mother had a super short fuse and started going off on them about how they couldn't own the ducks and they weren't allowed to split them up between them! Like...why did it matter, Lady? These kids were being SO good waiting in a line that hadn't even started moving yet. They were super adorable. I know vacation is stressful, and I don't know how the kids had been behaving for the rest of their trip or anything, but I felt really bad that it seemed like their mother was trying to kill the magic at every turn. Then the mother turned to us and struck up a conversation, while her kids were still in earshot. She was complaining to us about the frustrations of having children. She'd overheard us telling someone else in line about just getting married, and since we were newly married she said she would give us her kids. She kept making a sarcastic joke (I hope!?) about pawning them off on us. (I wish I could say this was the only time someone tried to give us, or sell us their kids, but no dice. It was a common occurrence.) I thought they were precious—and I'm not even always a huge fan of kids—and I felt bad for the children for having a parent who would blatantly put them down in front of strangers, and not in a teasing way. I didn't even know what to say, except to remain really positive and keep saying how great I thought they were. I hope the kids heard me.

Anyway, we finally got to meet Merida, and she was excellent! This is consistently one of my favourite M&Gs.

The PP photographer was kinda weird though. After we took these, I asked to take a selfie, and the PP guy was very intent about how he needed to take a creative shot with our mat while I was selfie-ing...but I had already put it all away in a ziplock bag. And it only had half the signatures on it. Anyway, we dug it back out, and he took...this...

I guess it would have been a cool picture if it were already full of signatures. And if N weren't looking creepy there on the side, with it all off-center and stuff.

Anyway, I got my selfie, and Merida is adorable in it, so all is well. (I may have a slight crush on Merida. No shame.)

Next up, we did something I'd been wanting to do for a while but never could justify waiting in line for...

We went to the Speedway! This was where we used the first of our extra DVC FPs. We got our car...

And I didn't realize this, but they deck the cars out out for special occasions such as ours...

I guess this makes up for not having anyone tie tin cans to the back of our car after our wedding!

N wanted to ride Space Mountain next, so I told him to go do it with another one of our DVC FPs, while I went back to PFTH with the mat and used yet another DVC FP for Cinderella/Elena.

When we'd been given our DVC FPs, they told us they were good for anything that used FP except 7DMT, Pandora, Frozen, and maybe TSMM? But when I got to the princess FP line, I touched Mickey to Mickey and it turned blue! It turns out that those FPs weren't any good for character M&Gs! And they hadn't told me that! I explained to the CM, and they said they'd let me through anyway, but to double check about the FPs before I tried another character line with them.

I look ridiculous in all my pictures with Cindy, but I don't feel bad about it because Cindy does, too! Here's the least offensive one:

While I was there, N was here:

N and I met up at the gift shop outside the Winnie the Pooh ride. I was still on a character bender, so we checked wait times and decided to go to the silly circus, and then head out of the park for a break.

So, voila! An onslaught of circus-themed character photos...

Daisy wanted to see my ring! She was in great spirits and kept getting us laughing...

Annnnddd, CAPTION THIS:

I was finally satisfied with our character signatures...for now! So we decided it was time for a change of pace.​

 

[Tracy161]

Somehow, our Disney trips always seem to become about the food...

Yeah... I can relate...

I stopped for N to take this picture of me, and the people coming up behind him were hardcore judging. And I did not care.

This is awesome! I think you got this wrong though - they weren't hardcore judging, they were hardcore jealous!

"I'm not cultured. I just watch a lot of Masterchef."

We had a fun ride, and I was pleased to find that our ride photo came out looking like a cheesey Disney advertisement:

Who doesn't love a good cheesy Disney advertisement?!

I didn't even know what to say, except to remain really positive and keep saying how great I thought they were. I hope the kids heard me.

What a terrible story, ugh. And it sounded like the kids had found a wonderful way to keep themselves busy and occupied. Poor kids

I guess this makes up for not having anyone tie tin cans to the back of our car after our wedding!

 

[Raeven]

The verdict? I didn't love it. The theming was cool, and I'm glad I finally got there, but it was SOO dark that I couldn't see my food.

I agree, the West Wing is my least favorite room too. And when it's really busy people walk around taking flash pictures nonstop

Fun TR Challenge: CAPTION THIS PHOTO (below)...

It looks like she's trying to steal N from you So I assume she's saying "Married men are my type"

The PP photographer was kinda weird though. After we took these, I asked to take a selfie, and the PP guy was very intent about how he needed to take a creative shot with our mat while I was selfie-ing...but I had already put it all away in a ziplock bag. And it only had half the signatures on it. Anyway, we dug it back out, and he took...this...

#ThanksPhotopass

I guess it would have been a cool picture if it were already full of signatures. And if N weren't looking creepy there on the side, with it all off-center and stuff.

N looking creepy in the corner makes the picture And the off centeredness.

Anyway, I got my selfie, and Merida is adorable in it, so all is well. (I may have a slight crush on Merida. No shame.)

I kind of think you two look alike.

I look ridiculous in all my pictures with Cindy, but I don't feel bad about it because Cindy does, too! Here's the least offensive one:

She has the crazy picture eyes My dad and brother do them too.

Annnnddd, CAPTION THIS:

"You need a fancy hat like my poodles"

 

[Steppesister]

So far for August, N wants le Cellier for our anniversary, but we don't have any other signature dinners in mind. (Some others we'll have tried in past will include: Tiffins, Jiko, Citricos, Brown Derby, CRT (signature-ish...), and I'd been to Fulton's Crab House, but haven't been since it was changed to Paddlefish. I was considering Yachtsman, Artist Point (an excuse to return to WL), Flying Fish, or Narcoossee’s. Does anyone have any suggestions/reviews/advice?

sorry, this was WAY back when, but am trying to play catch up just a bit.

Le Cel was quite nice, but request a table along the wall if you want a less "out in the open" feel.

Tiffins- my favorite place in all of WDW.

Jiko has amazing food. Truly delicious and it's nice to get in some animal time at the viewing areas before or after dinner.

Not tried Citricos eyet.

HBD- divine. Love this place.

Paddlefish looks interesting. I hear they have a rooftop bar that looks really nice.

AP- good food, espeically the mushroom soup, but don't think you could eat that?

FF- not a fan. Service sucked and the food was hit and miss. Portions ridiculously tiny.

Not tried Narcoosees yet.

I'd been trying to get a table in the West Wing for years now! The verdict? I didn't love it. The theming was cool, and I'm glad I finally got there, but it was SOO dark that I couldn't see my food. I much prefer the library/music box room.

We noticed that people were already lining up by the fence for 7DMT, and we decided to get in line and ride it at rope drop. I took a selfie, and N still hadn't gotten over his morning groggy-grumpy thing. And it was also already pretty hot. I told him I'd take another one and that he had to smile. The result?

LOL! I still like it.

An aside: while we were in line here, there were two kids (aged 4-6) who were playing around, fairly quietly, staying closeby to a woman (mother?) who seemed to be their guardian. They were fascinated by the Disney ducks hanging out nearby, and they decided to divide up the ducks between them so they knew which ducks belonged to which kid. Makes total sense to me! The mother had a super short fuse and started going off on them about how they couldn't own the ducks and they weren't allowed to split them up between them! Like...why did it matter, Lady? These kids were being SO good waiting in a line that hadn't even started moving yet. They were super adorable. I know vacation is stressful, and I don't know how the kids had been behaving for the rest of their trip or anything, but I felt really bad that it seemed like their mother was trying to kill the magic at every turn. Then the mother turned to us and struck up a conversation, while her kids were still in earshot. She was complaining to us about the frustrations of having children. She'd overheard us telling someone else in line about just getting married, and since we were newly married she said she would give us her kids. She kept making a sarcastic joke (I hope!?) about pawning them off on us. (I wish I could say this was the only time someone tried to give us, or sell us their kids, but no dice. It was a common occurrence.) I thought they were precious—and I'm not even always a huge fan of kids—and I felt bad for the children for having a parent who would blatantly put them down in front of strangers, and not in a teasing way. I didn't even know what to say, except to remain really positive and keep saying how great I thought they were. I hope the kids heard me.

This really breaks my heart. How sad. You have to wonder what their home life is like.

 

[natebenma]

Your Feb plans look great!

A little confession- I love solo time! It is nice to have no pressure worrying if you are spending too much or too little time doing something. I have used solo time to do the standby lines at places like Peter Pan and 7DMT, and more often then not, I end up talking with others in line. A little boy (age 10) I chatted with in the 7DMT ride showed me how all the queue games worked and then asked me to ride with him and his dad.

Jiko sounds wonderful! I can't weigh in on any of the signatures. The only ones I have been to are blue wave at Swalfin and Le Cellier (before it became signature)

Definitely let us know how the horseback riding is!