I Can Spot Frozen Fireworks Anywhere! Aug. '14 TR Updated 7/12

[Ceryssa]

Yay for another TR starting! I had the same opinion of the GF rooms, but I didn't realize the villas were different. I may have to check into those. So cool you guys got there early and hit the ground running! Be Our Guest looks so good! I lucked into snagging a dinner ADR that opened up recently so I think we'll try both lunch and dinner on our trip, because who can have too much castle?

 

[JolllyHoliday]

Always enjoy your trip reports and your great pictures ! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mom2m&k]

I totally agree with you on the Grand Floridian and the guest rooms before DVC. When you posted your tour of them, before they opened, I fell in love and hope we can stay there someday! So I have a question for you.....in Be Our Guest the suits of armor... I have heard that they do things. What do they do? I have this irrational fear of them ever since I was a tween and on the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and they decided to spice it up with a suit of armor swinging an ax at your head! I've tried to avoid them and the Haunted Mansion ever since.

 

[Wood Nymph]

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I can't wait to see what your VGF room looks like. It is such a gorgeous resort.

We have only eaten lunch at BOG and the braised pork is my favorite. I think DH has tried all the sandwiches now and hasn't found any of them to be too exciting. But he is willing to eat there in spite of that, since he knows how much I like it. We always eat in the Rose Room, too.

 

[ariane37]

Those pictures are fantastic! I love all the ones taken from the PeopleMover

I 100% prefer BOG dinner over lunch We've had dinner there 4x and have never had a bad experience. Food is always great, service is always great, and you can't beat the ambiance. DS now 8 declared it his favorite DW restaurant after our first visit there in Nov. 2012 lol!

We've had lunch there once. It was ok.......I think for me, besides the food I just like the more formal atmosphere better at dinner. We just returned a couple weeks ago and didn't do BOG this time after eating there on our last 3 trips. I really missed it!

 

[natebenma]

home!!!

So glad you have now arrived.

BOO! on getting a seat in the back of the bus, but at least it meant you were going to be leaving soon. I was one of the first on ME last time and we waited around 25-30 minutes before leaving.

Here's an idea Disney- how about charging for the front row seat on the ME and letting us reserve our spot 60 days in advance. J/K of course!

I did not love the new arrival commercial/video either.

Thank you for the monorail resort tour from the bus. Loved it!!!

for MK, Peoplemover and food/restaurant porn.

Gorgeous pictures of BOG! All of your meals looked fantastic.

 

[JulieODC]

Early, and smooth, travel days are the best! You really do get a full day in that way!! Starting out on the PeopleMover is a great idea...good way to take everything in before diving in!

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

Early flights are the BEST! Love waking up at home, then having lunch at WDW!!
have only been to dinner at BOG...loved it! glad you enjoyed your lunch there...
can't wait to see your room!

 

[maddiebee]

We always do 7am flights too! I'm usually too excited to sleep so I might as well be up so early and on my way!

I love that you went on People Mover first! Its a perfect ride and I love the idea of starting your trip with taking a nice look around the park on it!

I honestly think I liked BOG dinner better, just because, being gluten free, my braised pork didn't have any sauce on it. It was still pretty good but dry. The pork chop that the chef made me for dinner was hands down the best pork I have ever had, as well as the rest of the meal was really magical for a number of reasons. We will still go back for both though!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[annie170]

I always enjoy your trip reports and LOVE Franklin's awesome photos!

I agree there's nothing better than an early flight and arrival to WDW. People Mover is a great way to start the trip!

I've only had lunch at BOG, and appreciate the fact that lunch is a quick service credit on the dining plan. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to score a dinner ressie!

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

Following along! I can't wait to eat at BOG it didn't happen this trip (just couldn't fit it in ) but thats okay because I am determined to go in December!!

I can't wait to hear about Diagon Alley, I recently just read and watched all the Harry Potter books and hope to visit Universal in a few years. I can't wait to see what you think.

 

[BridgetR3]

Loving your pictures and TR already!!!

Lunch at BOG looks awesome as usual but I rather dinner there so that gets my vote.

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures!

 

[dekkerdisneydreamer]

Good morning! Joining in, so far beautiful pics and blue skies all around.

I cannot wait to see your room photos/reviews at VGF. We do not own there, but perhaps, someday, "A dream that I wish, will come true."

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Love your photos so much.

 

[Joyciemc]

Can't wait to see the Villa!

 

[Missyrose]

Great start and glad your travel was painless and that you found Chelsea no problem.

That must have been very exciting to arrive after waiting 13 months (and perhaps a tad frustrating that your villa wasn't ready yet) but to be able to just stash you bags and pop up to the monorail platform and be in MK before lunch time is a pretty good consolation.

I really like the pictures of you and Chelsea where you are in focus and the Castle is out of focus

I am right with you in that I liked the new paint job to the People Mover much more in person than I did in pictures.

Considering that I have never been able to get a dinner ADR I'll have to say I prefer lunch at BOG

I was very happy it was so easy to get to Florida AND find Chelsea.

Dinner at BOG is good, you guys should try it!

Found this TR and subbing! I love all your photos -- felt like I was there on your trip

It's nice to see a good review of BOG lunch. I've seen so many negatives -- but since this is our first trip to WDW and that restaurant just looks so darn gorgeous, I decided to go ahead and book the FP lunch for one of our MK days. I'm planning on getting the same meal as you also (the Croque monsier and the french onion soup)

Thanks for joining us! I feel like the expectations for BOG are set so high because it's so hard to get into the restaurant. So the meals there can never seem to reach them. But we've had some really good meals there, not always out of this world, but very good.

Oops, I meant to say I am EXPECTING great photos from the Mine Train, since you hinted earlier that Franklin nailed it

I knew what you meant!

I was getting so excited for you on your ride on ME. Great build up to checking in at the Grand!!!

Thanks for your excitement, checking into the Grand was a long time coming for us!

Joining in, to follow along with your latest report. Truth be told, I lurk on all your reports, but it only seems polite to come out and let you know I'm here occasionally.

Love to hear of your adventures and of course to look through all of your most amazing photos. You are both great photographers of all things Disney.

Can't wait to hear more about your villa. I love the GF resort and can understand why you would buy your DVC villa there. Must have been a lovely place to stay (or at least a much better place to stay than the Poly these days!)

I'll be following along in the days ahead!

Thanks

Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to let us know you're here! Trust me, I totally understand. I sneak reading TRs in during lunch at work, but I almost never have time to respond. So I end up doing my far share of lurking!

Hurrah for another Missy & Franklin TR! I will follow along as best I can. I can't wait to hear about all of your fun!!

Thanks for joining us!

Yay for another TR starting! I had the same opinion of the GF rooms, but I didn't realize the villas were different. I may have to check into those. So cool you guys got there early and hit the ground running! Be Our Guest looks so good! I lucked into snagging a dinner ADR that opened up recently so I think we'll try both lunch and dinner on our trip, because who can have too much castle?

You soooooo should look at the villas at GF, they're beautiful! And you can NEVER have too much castle!

Always enjoy your trip reports and your great pictures ! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you!!!

I totally agree with you on the Grand Floridian and the guest rooms before DVC. When you posted your tour of them, before they opened, I fell in love and hope we can stay there someday! So I have a question for you.....in Be Our Guest the suits of armor... I have heard that they do things. What do they do? I have this irrational fear of them ever since I was a tween and on the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and they decided to spice it up with a suit of armor swinging an ax at your head! I've tried to avoid them and the Haunted Mansion ever since.

I seem to remember (at one time) the suits of armor moved, but now they just talk.

I hope you get to stay at VGF! When we got to tour the building before it opened I was surprised by how much I loved EVERYTHING about the resort. The details are phenomenal and the serenity of the villas is just unparalleled.

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I can't wait to see what your VGF room looks like. It is such a gorgeous resort.

We have only eaten lunch at BOG and the braised pork is my favorite. I think DH has tried all the sandwiches now and hasn't found any of them to be too exciting. But he is willing to eat there in spite of that, since he knows how much I like it. We always eat in the Rose Room, too.

You'll see our villa very, very soon! I always sneak bites of Franklin's braised pork at BOG and it is always fantastic.

Those pictures are fantastic! I love all the ones taken from the PeopleMover

I 100% prefer BOG dinner over lunch We've had dinner there 4x and have never had a bad experience. Food is always great, service is always great, and you can't beat the ambiance. DS now 8 declared it his favorite DW restaurant after our first visit there in Nov. 2012 lol!

We've had lunch there once. It was ok.......I think for me, besides the food I just like the more formal atmosphere better at dinner. We just returned a couple weeks ago and didn't do BOG this time after eating there on our last 3 trips. I really missed it!

You guys are really big BOG fans! We've never had a bad experience there at dinner, either. We run into the same problem on our Disney trips: You want to try new restaurants, but that means skipping favorites to do so. Such a tough decision!

home!!!

So glad you have now arrived.

BOO! on getting a seat in the back of the bus, but at least it meant you were going to be leaving soon. I was one of the first on ME last time and we waited around 25-30 minutes before leaving.

Here's an idea Disney- how about charging for the front row seat on the ME and letting us reserve our spot 60 days in advance. J/K of course!

I did not love the new arrival commercial/video either.

Thank you for the monorail resort tour from the bus. Loved it!!!

for MK, Peoplemover and food/restaurant porn.

Gorgeous pictures of BOG! All of your meals looked fantastic.

It was nice to leave the airport so quickly after boarding the bus, but I do like sitting closer to the front of the bus so much better!

Don't give Disney any ideas of what else we should be booking months in advance, my poor Google Calendar can't take anymore Disney reminders!

Early, and smooth, travel days are the best! You really do get a full day in that way!! Starting out on the PeopleMover is a great idea...good way to take everything in before diving in!

PeopleMover really is a fantastic first ride of the trip, you just get to soak in the sights and sounds of the park!

Early flights are the BEST! Love waking up at home, then having lunch at WDW!!
have only been to dinner at BOG...loved it! glad you enjoyed your lunch there...
can't wait to see your room!

I love those early flights, I can't even imagine trying to sleep in on a day we leave for Disney!

We always do 7am flights too! I'm usually too excited to sleep so I might as well be up so early and on my way!

I love that you went on People Mover first! Its a perfect ride and I love the idea of starting your trip with taking a nice look around the park on it!

I honestly think I liked BOG dinner better, just because, being gluten free, my braised pork didn't have any sauce on it. It was still pretty good but dry. The pork chop that the chef made me for dinner was hands down the best pork I have ever had, as well as the rest of the meal was really magical for a number of reasons. We will still go back for both though!

I'm with you on being too excited to sleep! Good to know about the braised pork sauce having gluten in it. I never would have guessed that.

joining in

I always enjoy your trip reports and LOVE Franklin's awesome photos!

I agree there's nothing better than an early flight and arrival to WDW. People Mover is a great way to start the trip!

I've only had lunch at BOG, and appreciate the fact that lunch is a quick service credit on the dining plan. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to score a dinner ressie!

Thanks!!! Keep trying for that dinner reservation, they open up when you least expect it!

Following along! I can't wait to eat at BOG it didn't happen this trip (just couldn't fit it in ) but thats okay because I am determined to go in December!!

I can't wait to hear about Diagon Alley, I recently just read and watched all the Harry Potter books and hope to visit Universal in a few years. I can't wait to see what you think.

OMG, Diagon Alley was amazing. I can't wait to share it all with you guys!

Loving your pictures and TR already!!!

Lunch at BOG looks awesome as usual but I rather dinner there so that gets my vote.

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures!

I think I like BOG better at dinner too, though I definitely don't mind lunch there at all.

Good morning! Joining in, so far beautiful pics and blue skies all around.

I cannot wait to see your room photos/reviews at VGF. We do not own there, but perhaps, someday, "A dream that I wish, will come true."

This was definitely a blue-skies kind of trip (well, except for a massive storm during the late afternoon on arrival day, but we'll get to that soon).

Photos of our gorgeous villa are coming right up!

Love your photos so much.

Thank you so much!

Can't wait to see the Villa!

Your wish is my command... ​

 

[Missyrose]

Welcome back friends, we last left with a scrumptious lunch at Be Our Guest. We finished up lunch and it was time to get our ride on. And why not start with the newest ride Disney has to offer?

It was time to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!

Chelsea’s ears made a valiant effort to stay on, but those last couple of twists and turns did them in.

Hey! That’s us in the cottage. Oh, wait, no. That’s just our reflection because you can’t really see inside the windows in the bright sunlight.

We had FP+ reservations, so we got to ride Mine Train again. And this time, Franklin sat on the OTHER side of the train. Hahahaha.

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[Missyrose]

We had gotten the text message that our villa was ready and it had gotten really, really hot out. We decided to head back to the Grand to cool off before it was time to get ready for Villains Unleashed.

Bye-bye for now, my dear castle.

There was a slight breeze coming off the water when we walked out of the park, so we took it as a sign that we should take the boat back to GF instead of the monorail.

Have I mentioned how absolutely beautiful this resort is?

We were in a standard view studio. I had requested a high floor and got the first floor (I think the woman who checked us in tried to get us into a villa that would be ready early so we had somewhere to change for the party). Turns out, having a first-floor villa made it super easy to get in and out.

Now one of the awesome features they built into the studios at VGF is the split bathroom. In one room, you have the sink and the walk-in marble shower.

In the other room, is the toilet and a tub/shower combo.

That’s where we’ll leave off for now, but we have TONS of villainous fun coming up!
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[Pixel Dust]

Click on the photo below to explore and zoom into the panoramic.
This photo is about 130 megapixels.


http://gigapan.com/gigapans/162458

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