Tinkerbell_Girl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
I love your HEA pictures!
I *think* I made DH a lifelong Disney Fan! A June 2017 TR (the end 7/19)
- Thread starter ArielSRL
- Start date
Elizabeth Smith
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2017
I'm really enjoying you report! It seems like your MK day was great and you got to do a lot of fun rides. 
ArielSRL
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
Thank you so much!! And yay on another trip!
ArielSRL
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
Thank you!
ArielSRL
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
Thanks for joining in!I'm really enjoying you report! It seems like your MK day was great and you got to do a lot of fun rides.
ArielSRL
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
Day Three 6/5/2017 ~ Epcot and Hollywood Studios (part 1)
So I have in my notes that I set my alarm for 6:30 or 6:45 this day. Got to sleep in a little longer because we didn't need to be at Epcot until 8:30 - 8:45. I got up and got the coffee going and got myself started on the getting ready process. I got Chad up about 45 minutes later and got the boys up about 15 minutes after that. I think we got out of the room by about 8:15ish. I had wanted to drive the car to all the parks except MK but Chad wanted to try the buses so we headed out to the bus stop. I don't think we waited very long for a bus. I may have mentioned this but we had fairly good bus mojo in the mornings, except, of course, the one morning we tried to make it to EMH at MK. So I have these photos of the boys on the bus, taken at 8:30:
I'm not quite sure what time we arrived but I think it was fairly close to opening time. We went to Epcot two days and one of the days was a little bit of a snafu because we were in a huge security line. I just can't seem to remember if it was this day or not. I am thinking it was though because we were coming from the bus this day and the car on Thursday and based on which line we were in on the snafu day, it was closer to the bus side. So, we will go with it. So basically, we did not get in as early as I wanted, but I won't complain because if you read last years' report, this year was so much better than last!
I'm thinking it was probably 9:15-9:20 maybe once we finally got through everything and into the park. And once we got in, we headed to the ever popular...wait for it...Imagination Pavilion. Basically, we didn't really need to do any running of the bulls because we were able to get FPs for all the Tier 1's we wanted. We had split our TT and Soarin FPs because Will is too short to ride, so we knew we could get Child Swap passes for those and we were coming back on Thursday to do Frozen.
Anyway, we got to the pavilion in a somewhat timely manner and headed in to ride Journey Into Imagination. Before I go any further I will tell you that DH says Figment is one of his favorite characters - I may be repeating myself from the intros, so I apologize if I am. The last time he was at Disney, was right after Epcot opened so he says he thinks he just latched onto Figment as his favorite character because maybe they were really promoting him. Regardless, the ride is kind of blah, but I think we all enjoyed it somewhat and (all three of) the boys probably really liked it.
After this we headed out quickly, so as to keep the boys from wanting to play - I had built in time to do that but then the security lines fiasco happened so I had to make up ground somewhere! We headed to the Land Pavilion, where AJ and Chad used their FP for Soarin' and Will and I waited for them. Touring Plans had predicted not too long of a wait with a FP, but I was leery of that because Dad, AJ, and I waited quite a long time in the FP line last year. I'm not 100% sure what time this was but we had a Garden Grill ADR for 10:10. We weren't late but it was getting close. Finally they came out but there was no time for me to ride before breakfast, so back up the escalator we went. I figured I would just ride after breakfast and the boys could all do Living with the Land. Not that I think LwtL is a bad ride, but I do not have to ride it every trip...lol.
Okay, so up to GG we went. We waited a few minutes and everyone took a bathroom break. Then we got called. We got sat on the outer edge of the circle so we were able to see that we were circling around. I'm not that familiar with the restaurant, so I'm not certain if all the seats are on the outer circle or not. Anyway, I'm fairly certain that we had a character visit before the waiter even arrived:
Pluto! And the boys really enjoyed the visit, as is obvious from their expressions, I think!
Finally our server, Ryan, came by. I'm going to be honest and say that we did not start out with the best service, but by the end Ryan had totally turned it around and we were impressed; Chad extremely so!
We ordered some drinks; I got Raspberry Mimosa and Chad got a Bloody Mary:
Oh and you can also see we got some POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice, as well. Yum! Maybe I should've just asked for some vodka with my POG! As it was, Chad was the clear winner here. My Raspberry Mimosa was pretty to look at but didn't really have much flavor. Oh and it was more expensive! Lesson learned!
I think that we had at least one other character come by before we ever got any food...and I was fairly hungry at this point. For the life of me, no matter how many times I get it explained to me, I do not know how to tell Chip and Dale apart, but here is one of them:
Maybe AJ was hungry, too, because he doesn't look too pleased, and Will must have completely refused.
After this, we, at least, got fruit, because you'll see it on the table. But I'm not sure the platter of hot food had come yet. Like I mentioned, the service was a little lacking on the front end. But boy, those characters were coming fast and furious:
If it isn't obvious, these boys love themselves some Mickey!
I am fairly certain we got our food before the last character stopped by. It was nice to have the family style so no one had to leave the table but I tend to like the variety on a traditional buffet more. I'm very much a grazer and like to eat a little bit of everything. But all in all, the GG food was very good. I had fruit, and bacon (very good), and sausage (just okay), and tator tots. That might've been it for me because I am not a huge scrambled egg eater. I love a good egg and cheese with optional meat sandwich (on a biscuit, or bagel, or croissant, or just about any bread there may be) or eggs in a breakfast casserole but eggs by themselves don't do a whole lot for me, so I probably skipped them. I also think I probably skipped the Mickey waffles. I think Chad enjoyed his food and I think the boys, as usual, ate practically nothing. AJ had some tator tots and maybe Will ate a Mickey waffle...or possible cereal that I brought in a container. SMH.
**ETA: I forgot they give you the huge sticky bun here. But none of us like sticky buns/cinnamon rolls, so we told him not to even bring it. I wonder if that messed up the timing with the food at all, as maybe that's an "appetizer" that is brought out before or with the fruit, and then the hot plate comes later? Just a theory...
So, like I mentioned, it was during the eating that our last character stopped by:
Oh, that one must have been Dale because I can see his signature in our autograph book! LOL. Also, I finally got in a photo and I remember I forgot my ears on this morning. Oh well.
We closed down the restaurant, as far as breakfast hours are concerned, and Ryan gave us a Turtle Talk with Crush FP that was good to use until the end of June. We wouldn't be using it that day but we would use it on Thursday and because I actually scheduled one for Turtle Talk, I was able to switch that one to something else.
After this, Chad took the boys on LwtL and I headed to Soarin' to use my RS pass. I did ask for Row B1 and, at first, because I was by myself, she wasn't sure she could put me there but then there was another single rider and she had two open seats, so I was able to get that row. Because of being in that row, I didn't see a lot of the distortion that people complain about and I really enjoyed the ride.
With that, I think I will stop here. It is late and I am having trouble remembering our order of stuff next. I have my receipts and they are semi-confusing, so I am going to do my best to recollect what actually happened so I will be ready with the next update in a few days. Thanks, in advance, for reading.
Up next: Day Three 6/5/2017 ~ Epcot and Hollywood Studios (part 2)
So I have in my notes that I set my alarm for 6:30 or 6:45 this day. Got to sleep in a little longer because we didn't need to be at Epcot until 8:30 - 8:45. I got up and got the coffee going and got myself started on the getting ready process. I got Chad up about 45 minutes later and got the boys up about 15 minutes after that. I think we got out of the room by about 8:15ish. I had wanted to drive the car to all the parks except MK but Chad wanted to try the buses so we headed out to the bus stop. I don't think we waited very long for a bus. I may have mentioned this but we had fairly good bus mojo in the mornings, except, of course, the one morning we tried to make it to EMH at MK. So I have these photos of the boys on the bus, taken at 8:30:
I'm not quite sure what time we arrived but I think it was fairly close to opening time. We went to Epcot two days and one of the days was a little bit of a snafu because we were in a huge security line. I just can't seem to remember if it was this day or not. I am thinking it was though because we were coming from the bus this day and the car on Thursday and based on which line we were in on the snafu day, it was closer to the bus side. So, we will go with it. So basically, we did not get in as early as I wanted, but I won't complain because if you read last years' report, this year was so much better than last!
I'm thinking it was probably 9:15-9:20 maybe once we finally got through everything and into the park. And once we got in, we headed to the ever popular...wait for it...Imagination Pavilion. Basically, we didn't really need to do any running of the bulls because we were able to get FPs for all the Tier 1's we wanted. We had split our TT and Soarin FPs because Will is too short to ride, so we knew we could get Child Swap passes for those and we were coming back on Thursday to do Frozen.
Anyway, we got to the pavilion in a somewhat timely manner and headed in to ride Journey Into Imagination. Before I go any further I will tell you that DH says Figment is one of his favorite characters - I may be repeating myself from the intros, so I apologize if I am. The last time he was at Disney, was right after Epcot opened so he says he thinks he just latched onto Figment as his favorite character because maybe they were really promoting him. Regardless, the ride is kind of blah, but I think we all enjoyed it somewhat and (all three of) the boys probably really liked it.
After this we headed out quickly, so as to keep the boys from wanting to play - I had built in time to do that but then the security lines fiasco happened so I had to make up ground somewhere! We headed to the Land Pavilion, where AJ and Chad used their FP for Soarin' and Will and I waited for them. Touring Plans had predicted not too long of a wait with a FP, but I was leery of that because Dad, AJ, and I waited quite a long time in the FP line last year. I'm not 100% sure what time this was but we had a Garden Grill ADR for 10:10. We weren't late but it was getting close. Finally they came out but there was no time for me to ride before breakfast, so back up the escalator we went. I figured I would just ride after breakfast and the boys could all do Living with the Land. Not that I think LwtL is a bad ride, but I do not have to ride it every trip...lol.
Okay, so up to GG we went. We waited a few minutes and everyone took a bathroom break. Then we got called. We got sat on the outer edge of the circle so we were able to see that we were circling around. I'm not that familiar with the restaurant, so I'm not certain if all the seats are on the outer circle or not. Anyway, I'm fairly certain that we had a character visit before the waiter even arrived:
Pluto! And the boys really enjoyed the visit, as is obvious from their expressions, I think!
Finally our server, Ryan, came by. I'm going to be honest and say that we did not start out with the best service, but by the end Ryan had totally turned it around and we were impressed; Chad extremely so!
We ordered some drinks; I got Raspberry Mimosa and Chad got a Bloody Mary:
Oh and you can also see we got some POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice, as well. Yum! Maybe I should've just asked for some vodka with my POG! As it was, Chad was the clear winner here. My Raspberry Mimosa was pretty to look at but didn't really have much flavor. Oh and it was more expensive! Lesson learned!
I think that we had at least one other character come by before we ever got any food...and I was fairly hungry at this point. For the life of me, no matter how many times I get it explained to me, I do not know how to tell Chip and Dale apart, but here is one of them:
Maybe AJ was hungry, too, because he doesn't look too pleased, and Will must have completely refused.
After this, we, at least, got fruit, because you'll see it on the table. But I'm not sure the platter of hot food had come yet. Like I mentioned, the service was a little lacking on the front end. But boy, those characters were coming fast and furious:
If it isn't obvious, these boys love themselves some Mickey!
I am fairly certain we got our food before the last character stopped by. It was nice to have the family style so no one had to leave the table but I tend to like the variety on a traditional buffet more. I'm very much a grazer and like to eat a little bit of everything. But all in all, the GG food was very good. I had fruit, and bacon (very good), and sausage (just okay), and tator tots. That might've been it for me because I am not a huge scrambled egg eater. I love a good egg and cheese with optional meat sandwich (on a biscuit, or bagel, or croissant, or just about any bread there may be) or eggs in a breakfast casserole but eggs by themselves don't do a whole lot for me, so I probably skipped them. I also think I probably skipped the Mickey waffles. I think Chad enjoyed his food and I think the boys, as usual, ate practically nothing. AJ had some tator tots and maybe Will ate a Mickey waffle...or possible cereal that I brought in a container. SMH.
**ETA: I forgot they give you the huge sticky bun here. But none of us like sticky buns/cinnamon rolls, so we told him not to even bring it. I wonder if that messed up the timing with the food at all, as maybe that's an "appetizer" that is brought out before or with the fruit, and then the hot plate comes later? Just a theory...
So, like I mentioned, it was during the eating that our last character stopped by:
Oh, that one must have been Dale because I can see his signature in our autograph book! LOL. Also, I finally got in a photo and I remember I forgot my ears on this morning. Oh well.
We closed down the restaurant, as far as breakfast hours are concerned, and Ryan gave us a Turtle Talk with Crush FP that was good to use until the end of June. We wouldn't be using it that day but we would use it on Thursday and because I actually scheduled one for Turtle Talk, I was able to switch that one to something else.
After this, Chad took the boys on LwtL and I headed to Soarin' to use my RS pass. I did ask for Row B1 and, at first, because I was by myself, she wasn't sure she could put me there but then there was another single rider and she had two open seats, so I was able to get that row. Because of being in that row, I didn't see a lot of the distortion that people complain about and I really enjoyed the ride.
With that, I think I will stop here. It is late and I am having trouble remembering our order of stuff next. I have my receipts and they are semi-confusing, so I am going to do my best to recollect what actually happened so I will be ready with the next update in a few days. Thanks, in advance, for reading.
Up next: Day Three 6/5/2017 ~ Epcot and Hollywood Studios (part 2)
Last edited:
ArielSRL
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2006
I think that's what Ryan, the server told me. I did not remember that! Hopefully I will now! Thanks for reading!
DLmama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2012
I think that we had at least one other character come by before we ever got any food...and I was fairly hungry at this point. For the life of me, no matter how many times I get it explained to me, I do not know how to tell Chip and Dale apart, but here is one of them:
Yep, it's the chocolate "Chip" nose! Chip & Dale are DH's favorite characters, so I was coached on how to tell them apart.
We were supposed to do Garden Grill during our trip, but found out at the last minute that it wouldn't be happening and ended up at Akershus instead. This breakfast is on my radar for next time, whenever we get back to WDW. I love basic breakfast food! Looks like you guys had a great time!
Monykalyn
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2014
The Pluto picture
!! For some reason we don't have a lot of Pluto pics (or Minnie!). Have this booked for August as a PPO on Epcot day-hoping to hit Soarin right after and then start TT with FP. Disappointing about the mimosa-I normally love Mimosas. Hmmm wonder if rum would work in the POG juice?.
Were you seated where you could look into Living with the Land? I have never been in this restaurant and i think I'd like looking at the attraction while it turned past us...
!! For some reason we don't have a lot of Pluto pics (or Minnie!). Have this booked for August as a PPO on Epcot day-hoping to hit Soarin right after and then start TT with FP. Disappointing about the mimosa-I normally love Mimosas. Hmmm wonder if rum would work in the POG juice?.Were you seated where you could look into Living with the Land? I have never been in this restaurant and i think I'd like looking at the attraction while it turned past us...
Elizabeth Smith
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 7, 2017
Your hubby's figment shirt is super cute! I also love seeing your boys hugging the characters--it's so precious.
Neverland_Girl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2016
I can never tell them apart either!For the life of me, no matter how many times I get it explained to me, I do not know how to tell Chip and Dale apart, but here is one of them:
Yay Ryan for redeeming himself!
MissMaryQC
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2013
Smart! We made similar plans when we did FP for my mom and sis. It's really a genius plan.
Cute picture!!
Lol! I'm sure it's been explained to you 100 times now, so I won't bother. DD can't tell either, lol!
I've heard that about GG. Lots of reports of seeing the characters multiple times too.
Maybe! At 'Ohana the bread and fruit is an "appetizer" too...
Nice! Glad you were able to use it and swap out the one you booked!
vamassey1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2005
I'm always the first one up too and then have to get everyone else up too.
You're making a lot of progress on this trip.
Totally understandable considering your crew.
I've been guilty of this too. Once they start playing you have to drag them out kicking and screaming.
Anyway, I'm fairly certain that we had a character visit before the waiter even arrived:
Best Photo Ever!
Yes they do! I love Mickey in this outfit.
I would everything about this breakfast, but I've always loved eggs.
Glad you have a good ride. No trouble with motion sickness?
Raeven
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2015
How dare you!
Josh feels the same way. Ok I couldn't either!
So, like I mentioned, it was during the eating that our last character stopped by:
But I just figured out how to tell them apart the other day from watching a video review of GG. Dale has a lighter cooler nose and teeth that are apart, and Chip's teeth are together and his nose is black.
mdsouth
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2005
Okay, I am going to go back and respond individually but first, while AJ and I are watching Moana AGAIN...lol...he wants to add some emojis to my trip report. Please bare with me:
AJ is 5! (yes he typed this)
Now he has had his fun. HAHA.
So, I need to resize my photos for our next day, which I am going to try to do tonight, then I will work on an update tomorrow night. But I wanted to tell you all that I could probably just take the *think* part out of my title...DH has fallen hook, line, and sinker for Disney! We have been talking about all the new stuff that was announced at D23 - I mean, so exciting, right??? - and he's been talking about DVC and our next trip with some of his co-workers who are frequent WDW visitors. He said, "I'm really excited about all this!" HAHA. He even said he wouldn't be surprised if I ended up getting us 2 day park tickets for next June. Believe me, if it made sense, I would. I just think it is too expensive to do two days and in 4 nights, we should have plenty to keep us busy. He also already started talking about buying more points. Now, he hasn't gone completely crazy...we are talking years down the line, like maybe 10, but he is talking about it. Yep, full-fledged Disney fan we have here. I am one happy lady!
Alright, going to back to reply to all your posts now!
Tell AJ, I liked all the emojis! It looks like a big DIS party to celebrate your new DVC ownership and another trip planned for 2018!
So cool how Chad is now a HUGE Disney fan!
I know that you must be 
with excitement to start be able to share your love of Disney with him and talk about future trips. Your photos of the new fireworks show look good, but one thing I noticed is that they have a projection on the castle which looks nice but I hope that they also just light up the castle with plain colors during the fireworks show too because that I think the castle looks so beautiful that way. I will just have to wait until I see the show in person before I decide if I like it as much as I did Wishes.
ariane37
Dis veteran
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2012
just remembering all your morning arrivals at the parks last year, which we can laugh at now although you weren't laughing at the time!Love this picture!
I was going to say Mmmm until I read it had no taste. That stinks.
I won't explain again since everyone else did, but it took me years to finally remember this lol! I'm glad you guys enjoyed breakfast there. It's not that we didn't, the food was great the first time and pretty good the second. We just can't seem to get good character flow when we're there although when we do actually get them to stop at our table the interaction is fine
kastoney
Disney foodie served with a side of sarcasm
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2010
Glad to see you all made it to the pavilion without being trampled by the stampede
What a great picture!!!! Their excitement is undeniable.
Pluto! And the boys really enjoyed the visit, as is obvious from their expressions, I think!
Well here is clearly when Chad became a lifelong disney fan. A good bloody mary before noon will turn even the most cynical amongst us
Oh and you can also see we got some POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice, as well. Yum! Maybe I should've just asked for some vodka with my POG! As it was, Chad was the clear winner here. My Raspberry Mimosa was pretty to look at but didn't really have much flavor. Oh and it was more expensive! Lesson learned!
You got it exactly right. They bring the sticky bun with the fruit first and then the rest of the meal later.
Jfsag123
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2013
Getting there in the vicinity of RD is a huge improvement over last year! Congrats! And with what ended up being your first attraction of the day, you probably could have been even later.
I love the RD mornings when you're not rushing to some headliner. It's nice to be able to be in the parks that early and just soak up the atmosphere. I'm not a morning person and definitely not an early morning person, but it's my favorite time of day in the parks.
I think I enjoy that ride more when we're not on it. Does that make sense? We have fond memories of it and the song makes me happy, but I'm never that into it when I'm actually on it. We missed it at Disneyland, though.
Soarin' seems to take forever, FP or not. It seems like it's always at least 30 minutes total experience time no matter what.
Right there with you on that one.
There are seats in the upper circle as well. I know because we sat there. I had wanted outer circle, but it ended up being fine.
Such a great shot!
Disappointed that that mimosa looked so much better than it apparently was. Like @ariane37, my first thought was to add it to the list when I saw it.
That sticky bun is one of the main reasons we booked GG! So so good.B1=
Looking forward to it!
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