If we are all worms, try to be a glow worm. Spring Break 2019

lulu2121

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
The What: A 10-day, 9-night trip to Walt Disney World, of course.

The When: Thursday, March 21, 2019 to Saturday, March 30, 2019

The Where: Disney’s All Stars Music Resort

The Why: Spring Break

The Who: Yours truly, Christie. I also play the role of Mom in this tale. Along with me are Doug, my husband, and our 17-year-old daughter, Gwendolyn (let’s call her G because Gwendolyn is just too long to keep typing).

IMG_0452.JPG

Our Favorites: I think all of us would say Magic Kingdom is our favorite park, followed by Epcot in second place. Brunch at California Grill is my and Doug’s favorite meal. G may be hopping on this bandwagon as well after this trip since we finally took her along. Piglet is my favorite character and has been my entire life. Doug has recently acquired quite an affinity for Stitch over the last year. G has never really had a favorite character. To be honest, the child never sat still long enough to watch a Disney movie or TV show until she was almost in her teens. Don’t get me wrong, she loves going to Disney and even loved meeting the characters when she was younger. But if it isn’t a mainstream character, she probably won’t recognize it. My favorite ride is BTMRR. I didn't ask Doug and G, but I would guess they'd both say Flight of Passage.

Doug’s love of Stitch came about after buying the hat in the above photo last year. And the fanfare he gets while wearing it. Yep, other 50-year-old men catcall him now, and he loves it!

This trip was in the making for about a year. Doug and I upgraded to annual passes on our trip in June 2018, and the decision for go for Spring Break 2019 was made prior to that. We did not upgrade G to an AP because she was only going on the June 2018 trip and this trip – we came out about the same or slightly less just buying her tickets for each trip. The APs have served us well. Doug and I also visited WDW in October, January, and have a short weekend trip planned for Memorial Day (we just had to get one more trip in before the APs expire). This is not the first time we’ve held APs, and overall I think this was my 16th trip and Doug’s 14th. G comes in with this being her 8th trip. That really sheds a light – we’ve taken 6 adults-only trips in the last four years. Of note, we did not purchase a TIW card when we got our APs this time. This decision was based on a couple of factors. The first was our trip in June 2018 was booked as a bounce back with free dining so TIW wasn’t going to do a lot for us on that trip. The second reason was because the AP now includes a dining discount at most TS places. I had a spreadsheet for our first couple of trips to keep track of the amount we would have saved with TIW versus the AP discount. Originally, it looked like we’d only do a little better than breaking even on the cost of the card so we opted not to purchase it. Since we added more trips than we had originally planned, we should have bought the TIW card to use. (Insert a sigh) Hindsight.

Our older daughter, Kelsee, decided to skip this trip, although she was originally planning to go. She is a 21-year-old nursing student with a job and a boyfriend, so she decided her time was better spent at home. This turned out to be a good thing as my mom usually serves as our dog sitter, but she fell and broke her arm (requiring surgery to install a plate) a week before our trip.

I was not sure I would write a trip report before or even during the trip. I’ve never written one before, but the idea always sounds like a good one. I enjoy reading others’ trip reports and dining reports as well. I feel like I’ve really gotten to know some people on the Boards by doing so. I mostly only lurk though, so while I know lots of you, you all don't know me. I did not take pictures of all the things I should have taken pictures of. We didn’t even stop for Photopass very often. I’ll throw in the photos I have, but sorry folks, I just don’t take enough pictures. I will, however, describe it all for you so use your imaginations! Please stop and say hi if you're willing to follow along!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0452.JPG
    IMG_0452.JPG
    55.8 KB · Views: 39
Day 1 – We’re going to Disney World!

Our flight was scheduled to leave Louisville at 1:55 p.m. on Thursday, 3/21. We were flying Frontier for the first time. My dad picked us up at 11:30 to drive us the 30 minutes to the airport. We arrived right around noon, checked our bags, and got our boarding passes in only a couple of minutes. Security took about 15 minutes, which isn’t long at all, but Louisville used to see much shorter lines. I don’t know if the airport has just gotten busier in the last couple of years or if security has gotten slower. Coincidentally, my best friend was also flying to Orlando with her sister and niece on the same flight as us. They were going only for the weekend to see another niece graduate from a master’s program. We met up with them, hugs all around, and BF and I talked like we hadn’t see each other in forever (I think we had lunch two days before J). Everyone decided lunch was in order before the flight, but my family went one direction while BF’s went another. Options are extremely limited, but we decided on the Chili’s since it is usually fast and was close to our gate. G went with chicken tenders while Doug and I each had a burger, and I enjoyed a Blue Moon with it. Hey, it is vacation after all, and I wanted to start it off right. I got a call from BF when we were about ¾ of the way finished eating our food saying the plane was already loading. This was about 20 minutes earlier than I had expected it to begin boarding. So we finished eating quickly and paid the bill, and then I downed the remainder of my beer to chants of “chug, chug, chug” from our 20-something bar mates with whom we had been talking. I hope they had a great trip to Jamaica!

We boarded the plane a few minutes later and then sat and waited. We took off on time, but there was absolutely no need to hurry to get on the plane other than my fear the plane would leave early without us.

It was an uneventful flight, and we arrived right on time around 4:00 p.m. The first thing I did was turn my phone back on to see if I had an email or text with our room assignment. I sadly did not. We got off the plane and headed to the fake-o-rail. After a quick ride, we said goodbye to BF and her family as they were headed to baggage claim and the car rental counter. We made our way to Disney’s Magical Express, were promptly sent to a bus, and left shortly thereafter.

IMG_0352.JPG IMG_0353.JPG

We stopped at All Stars Sports and then made our way to Music.

Once departing the bus, we headed to the check in desk and were assigned Room 8657 in Building 8 which is in the Broadway section. We were also offered the gift card to skip housekeeping, but I’d rather have clean towels every day without the trouble of having to ask for them. I had requested Broadway and an upper floor, and our room was exactly that. We were on the third floor, only a couple of doors down from the stairs at the end of the building toward the Piano Pool. I thought this was a perfect location in this building. The elevator was out of the way, but Doug and I don’t mind taking the stairs to the third floor. G grumbled a bit about that and sometimes opted for the elevator instead.

We checked out our room for a bit and discussed what to do next. Dinner was scheduled for 7:15 at Boma, but we decided we did not want to wait that long. I was able to modify the ADR and moved it up to 6:45. We ubered over to AKL. Dinner at Boma was great as usual. We also had this as our first meal on our June 2018 trip. Doug enjoyed the gumbo and was happy to eat two bowls of it along with a couple of plates of everything else. G tried a bit of everything. She was a bit disappointed in the carved beef they had that night as it was a bit fatty. My first plate contained a small helping of a lot of things, but the standout to me was the carved turkey and cranberry sauce along with a side of mashed potatoes. I avoid turkey even at Thanksgiving – it’s just not my favorite – so this is really saying something. It was juicy and moist and just hit the spot. We settled the check, and I forgot to ask about the AP discount and having it applied. Oops.

We ubered back to AS Music. After a stop in the gift shop to buy two 8-packs of water and to get G a refillable mug, we headed back to the room to drop stuff off. Since Doug and I had foregone any alcoholic drinks with dinner, we decided a trip to the pool bar was in order. Doug stuck with an Angry Orchard while I went with something I can’t remember the name of. It was a gin drink with cucumber and mint.
IMG_0356.JPG
It was very good and easy to drink with enough alcohol to make you realize it was in there. We decided to head to the Piano Pool to sit and sip for a while.

IMG_0355.JPG

Since returning to the resort, we noticed tons of kids on school trips around. They looked to be marching bands so perhaps there was some type of event/competition they were attending. We took a stroll around the Rock Inn and Country Fair buildings before heading back to the room for some sleep. We had to be up early the next morning!

 


Day 2 – Magic Kingdom – Huh, what time?

I’m pretty sure my alarm was set for 4:45 this morning. Magic Kingdom was scheduled to open at 7:00 a.m. for EMH. G had decided she wanted to rope drop SDMT. I advised that would mean a really early start to the day, but everyone was in agreement. I wanted to be at the bus stop a couple minutes before 6:00 to make sure we got on the first bus. We left the room by 5:45 and were the first people at the bus stop. A minute later some more people joined us so my crazy early in the morning demand on the family started to seem slightly less unreasonable. We arrived at MK, made it through security, and to the turnstiles with only a few people in front of us. Once tapped in, we were in the second row and held at the tunnel entrance. I saw another Disboards member and her dad waiting to enter MK about 15 feet to my left, but there were lots of people between us. Shouting at someone you recognize from reading her trip reports online seemed rude and awkward (not to mention stalkerish), so I didn’t.

I didn’t keep an exact time, but we were let into MK a few minutes before 7:00. We headed straight down Main Street and were stopped at the Tomorrowland bridge to have our magic bands scanned again for EMH. We headed around the castle towards SDMT. Now, we’ve rope dropped plenty of times. We’ve done FOP multiple times and even did SDD in January. Neither compare to the race down Main Street! People were flat out running. We got in line for SDMT and worked our way through the queue. We rode and were back out in front of the ride by 7:25. You can see from the ride photo it was still pretty dark while we were on the ride, but the sun was up by the time we got off. This was the first of the “thanks, Mom” moments since my insistence on being up so early paid off! Please note that you should hear the “thanks, Mom” in your head in a teenager-sarcastic-Eeyore-sort of way.
7a933bb0-d37d-4281-9955-9ff6e3ae1706.jpg
4b8d4a16-5cdd-40f7-b833-36a49db2819c.jpg
From there, we stopped for our most frequented ride of the trip . . . can anybody guess? Suspense is killing you, right . . .the potty ride. Yep, somewhere along the way the restroom became known in our family as the potty ride. It think this is because Doug has a habit of getting into a park early for rope drop and then announcing he must use the restroom immediately before we can get in line for any kind of ride. And sometimes, he needs it to be a longer ride than others if you know what I mean. I apologize for the TMI.

After a quick stop, we made our way to Space Mountain. I think the wait time may have shown 45 minutes. This was a hard sell for G. She didn’t want to wait, but we also did not have FPs for this ride today. So it was now or never as wait times were only going to go up. The wait ended up being less than 20 minutes so it was worth it!
abfd2e05-8ce7-4492-bc38-122487c91c90.jpg
On our way over to BTMRR, we stopped in the hub to grab a Mickey pretzel for Doug and me to share. We always take the bridge around to BTMRR instead of walking on the Frontierland pathway. While heading that way, I saw Tom from Disney Tourist Blog taking photos. After we returned from the trip, he had posted photos from that morning on the blog. Pretty cool!

We had the same conversation with G about wait times at BTMRR. It was just after 8:00 a.m. The wait was posted at 20 minutes but the line was long because the ride had just opened and MK had just officially opened. We waited about 20-25 minutes for our ride on the wildest ride in the wilderness.

After BTMRR, we had to decide what to do next. We headed toward the POC bathrooms and made a pit stop. G did not want to ride POC as last time she got wet. I think we wasted some time still trying to decide what to do next and discussed how long we planned to stay in the park that day before taking a break. I used MDE and was able to move our 2:45 SDMT FPs up 10:20, but we still a little time to kill before the ride. G decided she needed a snack so we headed to Sleepy Hollow where she got a Mickey waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. OMG. This was a great snack! She let me share as it is a pretty large portion. Doug had decided in line he didn’t want anything. He tried to say maybe he’d just have a bite, but I told I wasn’t playing that game. Soon it was FP time so we went to SDMT for another ride. Again, “Thanks, Mom.”
b587aeee-d53e-46dc-adb5-8531e171f25e.jpg
2e9ca036-4d74-4518-a632-a569bdb82350.jpg
G wanted to walk through the shops on Main Street. She found a pair of ears she had wanted last June but were sold out at that time. So was she even happier when I bought them for her.
IMG_0358.JPG
We headed to Crystal Palace about 15 minutes before our 11:35 ADR and checked in. We were seated at 11:30. Lunch was really good. We usually do breakfast here but decided to try something different this time. Everyone was happy with the selections. I think G’s highlights were a large plate of Caesar salad and salmon. Doug and I tried a little of everything. I agreed with G that the salmon was really good.

I always have to prompt G to join in character photos. Usually she’s a good sport about it.

IMG_0364.JPG IMG_0372.JPG IMG_0377.JPG




 
  • Like
Reactions: DLo


By the time Tigger came around, she decided she was done with photos. Tigger, though, was having now of that and made her get out of her seat for a hug.

IMG_0388.JPG
And a firm talking to about her attitude.
IMG_0393.JPG IMG_0397.JPG IMG_0384.JPG
Following lunch, we headed to Peter Pan to use our next FP and then followed it with our FP for BTMRR. We left the park a little before 2:00 and made our way back to the resort for some time at the pool. Well, once back at the resort, Doug decided he needed a nap first before hitting the pool so G and I went without him. I happily read a book poolside (and had a little nap) while she got in for a dip. Doug and G eventually switched places, and she went back to the room for a nap while he swam.

We headed back to MK for the evening around 5:30. Our first stop was dinner at Columbia Harbor House. I will admit this was not my first choice for dinner this evening. But G wanted chicken nuggets and nothing else would do so this was chosen to keep both G and Doug from being cranky. She and I both had chicken nuggets, and Doug had the trio platter. We left full and happy.

I had made a 4th FP for this evening after using our last FP, but I’m not sure what it was for now. I’m thinking it may have been BTMRR. I know we did Haunted Mansion, Dumbo, IASW, and PeopleMover, but I feel like there is more I am forgetting. I kept making the next FP as soon as we scanned in at a ride, but it is a little fuzzy on everything we rode this night. We did have a great evening and stayed until park close at 11 pm.
IMG_0400.JPG IMG_0402.JPG IMG_0411.JPG IMG_0408.JPG IMG_0449.JPG
 
Following along. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures
 
Day 3 – Toy Story Land

Doug and I slept in a bit this morning and headed out of the room around 9:00. I dropped a load of laundry in a washer down by the Piano Pool, and we headed to the food court for breakfast. I needed Mickey waffles! These were a slight letdown after the one G and I shared the day before. They were perfectly good Mickey waffles, but the strawberries and whipped cream from Sleepy Hollow totally beats out just plain syrup. Doug had a bounty platter – his usual. He and I decided to also get refillable mugs at this point. We knew we had several mornings planned at the resort as well as afternoon breaks so it seemed to be the economical choice. We definitely put them to use.

After breakfast, we headed back to finish laundry and hang around the pool for a bit. G got up around this time and got herself a yogurt parfait to hold her over for a while and hung out in the room. She had met a new friend a few days before we left for vacation, so there was a lot of texting going on. After a while, she was hungry and lunch was about to be served so she headed back to the food court for a kids’ chicken nugget meal. Doug and I met her there and got drink refills before heading back to the room to get ready for DHS.

We hopped the bus to DHS and arrived a little after 2:00.
IMG_0446.JPG
One of G’s requests for this park was to watch the Indiana Jones show. It began at 3:15 and they were not letting people into the theatre yet for the show. Wait times were fairly long for everything at this point other than the Muppets or Voyage of the Little Mermaid, so we did what reasonable people do to pass the time. We ate a funnel cake. By the time we had devoured the powdered sugar covered confection, it was time to get a seat for the show. Indy is still a fun show and worth a watch, but I only need to see it every couple of years.

We did a little window shopping to pass time until our dinner ADR at 4:30 for ‘50s Prime Time Café. We were seated for dinner promptly. I ordered a Blue Moon, Doug had a chocolate milkshake, and G went with a vanilla milkshake. We also started with the onion rings as an appetizer to share. I had Dad’s Stuffed Pork Chop, Doug had Aunt Liz’s Golden Fried Chicken, and G had the Caesar Salad with Chicken. Doug and G both gave a thumbs up to their meals. I had a hard time choosing an entrée this night and decided to pick something I had not had before. The pork chop was large, though maybe cooked slightly longer than I would have preferred. I still give it a thumbs up, but I did not finish it as I was saving room for the real reason I come to this restaurant - Dad’s Favorite Chocolate Peanut Butter Layers Cake. Ummm. Ummm. Ummm. Doug helped me devour this, but we still didn’t manage to eat it all. I might have shed a tear over leaving cake on this plate.

Bellies full, we headed to Star Tours for our first FP of the evening. I’m not a Star Wars fan. I haven’t seen a Star Wars movie since I was a small child. I know, I know. Shame on me. We did have a scene we hadn’t seen before during our ride, but since I know nothing about Star Wars, I have no idea what it was. Sorry, that was the worst ride report ever.

Now it was time to hit up Toy Story Land! Alien Swirling Saucers had a 35 minute wait so we hopped in line and acted goofy until it was our turn to ride.
IMG_0412.JPG
IMG_0413.JPG
IMG_0415.JPG
G wanted to ride with Doug so I had a car to myself.

IMG_0418.JPG
We only had two FPs (for me and Doug) for SDD so I waited on a bench while G rode with Doug using my Magic Band.
95b6e42e-fa35-4f16-a12a-67628275cbc6.jpg
G thought it was fun but not worth a long wait for another ride. We were separating for the next FP. Doug and I headed to Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster while G went to Toy Story Mania. And here I will bestow this beauty upon you:
f128410a-4514-49a0-9b13-0617890cf2c9.jpg
I promise, the last time we rode this ride I manage to smile and look normal for the photo. I really tried, but this time I just could not manage it so this is what I ended up with.

We headed out of the park after stopping for G to buy a Pixar ball pillow and to get a refill in our popcorn bucket. No one cared to see Fantasmic! or the fireworks. We got back to the resort and headed to the Piano Pool for a bit. The water was super warm as long as you stayed in it, but it was a cold walk back to the room.
 
We had a 12:45 brunch reservation at California Grill this day. We slept in this morning, and then took a bus to MK around 11:30. It was a beautiful walk over to the Contemporary. We strolled around a bit and checked in for our ADR around 12:30. We were taken upstairs and seated immediately. I cannot say enough good things about this brunch. We’ve gone several times. My one piece of advice on this meal is to wait to order entrees until after you’ve made one or two trips to the buffet. Most servers will recommend this and won’t hurry you. Some servers will take your entrée order to get the menus out of the way but won’t place the order until you give them the go ahead. This really affects the experience and pacing of the meal. We like to take our time and be leisurely about it. I like to do a couple of rounds at the buffet with a couple of mimosas, order the entrée, sip another mimosa while taking a walk outside to enjoy the view, and then come back to be served the entrée and another mimosa. Doug and G both ordered the Steak and Eggs while I got the Brie and Berries French Toast. We also ordered the Blackened Gulf Shrimp with grits to share. G ate about half her steak because she was already full from the two plates of sushi she had consumed. Doug thought the steak was great as usual. I loved the French toast! It was perfect! French toast can be soggy sometimes, but this was the perfect moist texture throughout the thick slice of Brioche. I will absolutely order this again in on our trip in May. I usually feel like ordering French toast or pancakes is sort of a waste (hey, this is an expensive meal) when steak or shrimp is on the menu, but I didn’t feel this way at all, and this is definitely the entrée I enjoyed most from all our trips to CG for brunch. Doug and I shared the shrimp and grits which were good but sort of an afterthought for me. We had the remainder of G’s steak boxed up along with the desserts to go.

We walked back to the MK bus loop and returned to Music for an afternoon at the pool. G finished her steak soon after returning to the room. The Cali Grill desserts were eaten over the next couple of days, and a few things were thrown out when it was time to return home.

We headed to Disney Springs around 6:30 for the evening.
IMG_0426.JPG
G went off to World of Disney while Doug and I went to the Pandora store. Doug had received an email about a sale Pandora was holding wherein if you spent X amount you received X dollars off your purchase. Now, I don’t like to pay more for anything than I have to and neither does Doug. So he used the opportunity to buy a new gold charm for my bracelet. I think we’re calling this my anniversary/mother’s day gift.

We met up with G at World of Disney so Doug could show his AP card to get the discount on whatever she bought. I think she only purchased a keychain and maybe another small item. While they were checking out, I headed to Raglan Road to get in line for a table on the patio. I was glad I did this. Several people joined the line behind me soon after so I think we were seated quicker than we would have been if I’d waited until Doug and G were finished at World of Disney. They headed over and joined me in line soon enough. I think we only waited about 15 minutes for a table. Once seated, I ordered a Pride of the Peninsula (gin, cucumber, and mint) while Doug had a Dublin Donkey (RR’s version of a mule). While I miss having a straw, even a paper straw, in my soda or water, I really think a straw is necessary for a cocktail. Especially when there is a lot of ice, mint, and a giant piece of cucumber floating in it! It just makes for a more enjoyable drinking experience. G went with a Sprite. We ordered the Dalkey Duo as an appetizer. These are perfectly battered and fried sausages with a mustard dipping sauce. So, so good and a great value for sharing.

G ordered fish and chips for herself while Doug and I opted to share an order. While stuffing our faces, the band played. There was an absolutely adorable little boy, maybe about 6-years-old, that danced right in front of the stage for the entire set. We had as much fun watching him as we did listening to the music!

After dinner, we looked in a couple more stores, including a stop at Basin, but quickly decided we were finished and made our way to the bus stop. Once back to the room, a long and detailed discussion was had regarding our plans for the next day. We could either rope drop Animal Kingdom, which had EMH, or we could sleep a little later and be satisfied with only one ride on FOP. What to do, what to do?

 
Day Five, Animal Kingdom - Do we have to?
Yeah, we opted to sleep in. We arrived at AK before 10. Once there, we headed to the first FOTLK showing of the day. We were early enough to the theatre that no CMs were around and the queue was still closed. I had a bit of a duh moment and probably seemed rude to a lady who was already lined up. She was trying to keep things orderly and obviously wanted to keep her spot at the front of the line, but I’m pretty sure I gave her a blank stare when she suggested we use the extended queue area to go ahead and line up. She said it in a way that I just didn’t comprehend her intention at first. There were maybe 20 people standing around and there is no advantage to entering this theatre first so I just wasn’t getting her angst. But we soon followed suit and lined up appropriately. In less than 5 minutes, the CMs opened the actual queue and the theatre. We were seated in the giraffe section, which I think is a first for us. We were only a couple of rows back and had a great view. This is such a well done show. Who doesn’t love tumble monkeys?

Satu’li Canteen was next on our list for our first lunch of the day. I mobile ordered our meal at 10:50, and it was ready in a just a couple of minutes. G had steak with a salad base. She wasn’t pleased to find this included kale. After some grumbling and me offering to trade, she ate it and then said the kale wasn’t bitter so she did enjoy it. I had the chicken with rice and beans. Doug got the shrimp with noodles. We left full and happy.

We had a hard time at AK this day. Lines for everything were insanely long. I feel like we did some unproductive wandering at this time. Really, this whole day consisted of a lot of unproductive wandering and not necessarily the type anyone enjoys. There was a lot of “what do you want to do?” “lines are sooooo long” and “why are there so many people?!!!” Yep, we were all complaining.

We ended up looking through the stores to pass the time until our 12:00 FOP FP. After our flight on a banshee, we stopped for a Night Blossom for the kiddo and Rum Blossoms for the adults. Drinks were needed at this point. We sipped and strolled from Pandora to Africa using the back path. We walked a bit of the Gorilla Falls trail until G decided she didn’t want to go through the bird area. Up next, we took a ride on Kilimanjaro Safari and then Expedition Everest using FPs.
59dd3db3-9a8e-42bd-b236-05022378693d.jpg
I have no safari photos at all. I should have taken photos of the crowds in Asia. We’ve never seen it this packed before.

Second lunch was scheduled for 3:00 at Yak & Yeti. We were ready to have a good meal and then get the heck out of dodge. The park was just too crowded, and it wasn’t fun anymore. Yak & Yeti was delicious as usual. I opted for the Ahi Tuna Nachos as my entrée with an Organic Blonde Ale. G ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken, and Doug went with some sort of tacos from their specials menu. We considered dessert but ultimately passed. We decided we would get something back at the resort later on. Fortune cookies don’t count as dessert though, so we promptly broke those suckers open, and these words of wisdom were upon us:
IMG_0427.JPG
After a bit of a blah kind of day when people just seemed too much to deal with and no one was feeling the magic, this served as a pick me up and a reminder to keep it positive.

I’m not sure what we did once we arrived back at the resort. I think we discussed going to the pool, but I think it was one of those times when no one was actually motivated to do it. At some point, G decided she needed dinner (because two lunches aren’t enough, duh). She headed to the food court and ordered a kid’s chicken nugget meal. Doug and I weren’t far behind her, and we each got a cheesecake covered in chocolate. These were really good, and they looked really pretty.

After dessert, Doug and I decided to hit up the pool bar for a drink while G went back to our room. He went with an Angry Orchard, and I had some kind of beer. Mary Poppins was the movie playing by the pool. From our vantage point at the pool bar, we could watch the backside of the screen and see the movie, but we could not hear it. The music and basketball games on the bar TVs made it impossible to hear. No worries though, as I know the words and was happy to narrate. Doug and I headed back to the room around the time some rowdier than us 20-somethings converged on the bar. This group was at the bar each night and sometimes in the mornings as well. One guy plopped down on a chair next to Doug and then proceeded to put his feet up on the bar. ON THE BAR. Who does that?!? But they always looked like they were having a good time!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DLo
I want to share a quick photo from this past weekend before continuing. Gwendolyn went to her Junior Prom on Saturday night. Prom.jpg

Now on with the report!
Day Six – Flowers and Gardens

Doug and I made our way to Epcot this morning and arrived right around 11:00. I think G was about 30 minutes behind us this morning. She slept in a bit longer and then met up with us after we had begun eating our way around. Doug and I arrived hungry, and the plan was to hit up the Flower & Garden booths for lunch.

We started around World Showcase clockwise. Full disclosure, some of our stops are out of order here. We made multiple trips around the park. I could go back through my receipts to put them in order, but in an effort to get this update posted, I’m gonna wing it.

Hanami – Chilled Soba Noodle Salad and Chicken Karaage and Nanban Sauce. Doug really the liked the chicken. It was a drier than I would have preferred, but the flavor was really good. The soba noodle salad was fine but a plain except for the kick of wasabi I would get every couple of bites.


Taste of Marrakesh – We ordered the Fried Cauliflower and the Harissa Chicken Kebab. The fried cauliflower had suffered a bit from sitting out, but it was still delicious and one of our favorites of the festival! The kebab wasn’t anything special, but it was cooked properly and had good flavor. Doug ate most of the chicken while I snuck bites of the cous cous that was under it.

Doug and I stopped at Rose & Crown to each pick up a Cider & Black. We continued our way around with the World with drinks in hand. G met up with us in Canada. She wanted to try the Northern Bloom booth first so stopped there to get the Seared Scallops and Beef Tenderloin Tips. This booth was hands down G’s favorite.

IMG_0435.JPG

We reserved our direction at this point and headed back around World Showcase counterclockwise. We stopped in the UK and I did a bit of coaxing to get these:
IMG_0436.JPG IMG_0437.JPG IMG_0438.JPG
We made several more stops for food along our way.

The Smokehouse – We each ended up with our own sliders at this booth. They are large for festival food, but they are also messy to eat and share. G and I each had a Pulled Pig Slider while Doug went with the Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and Smoked Pork Belly Slider. I also ordered the beer flight as I’m trying to expand my horizons, but we are not fancy beer people and will likely always be a part of the Miller Lite crowd. I’m a bit more adventurous than Doug, but nothing in this flight really appealed to us. The wheat ale was the best, followed by the maple bacon stout, with the IPA coming in last. We finished the ale and stout, but most of the IPA was dumped.

After finishing our sliders and dumping the remainder of the beer, we moved on. While passing the American Gardens Theatre, Doug noticed Air Supply was scheduled for this evening as part of the Garden Rocks! concerts. While I am only vaguely familiar with their music, Doug was excited about this and wanted to catch a show later if we could.

Arbor at the Gardeners Terrace – Mixed Berry Buttermilk Cake. I enjoyed this dessert. Doug and G each had a bit and declared it just wasn’t their thing.

The Honey Bee-stro – We tried the Local Wildflower Honey-Mascarpone Cheesecake. We all enjoyed this!

Flavor Full Kitchen – Mickey Tart Peanut Butter Mousse and From the Garden. G had been asking where the Mickey-shaped tart was all day. We finally made our way to this booth to pick one up. Doug also thought the From the Garden, which was beets, cashew cheese and micro herbs, sounded interesting. Doug and I ate our veggies while G enjoyed the tart. She did let us each have a small bite, and it was really good!

Joffrey’s by American Adventure – Doug and I split a Frozen Strawberry Lemon Sunset with a double shot of Grey Goose during one of trips around the World. G had the same drink minus the vodka. It was cool and refreshing.

Sometime during our snacking around, I changed our first FP of the day from The Seas at 4:05 to Spaceship Earth at 2:05. When we arrived at Spaceship Earth, the CM announced the ride was down for a few minutes but still allowed us to get in line. We waited about 20 minutes for the ride. Our next FP was for Soarin’ at 3:05 so we headed toward The Land. G asked for B1, but it would have been an additional 20 minute wait. Ain’t nobody got time for that. We ended up in C1, but at least we were at the beginning of the row so that put us toward the center of the theatre. After our flight, we took a cruise on Living with the Land using our third FP. I was able to score a fourth FP for The Seas immediately after our ride on LWTL.

After The Seas, G decided she needed a real meal and only chicken nuggets would do. We headed to Electric Umbrella for G to get her fix. Doug and I wanted a snack too, but we had other plans in which G did not wish to partake. While G ate her nuggets, I was searching for a 5th FP and made one for Illuminations. Once finished at Electric Umbrella, Doug and I headed off to La Cava del Tequila while G walked through the World Showcase shops.

We waited about 5 minutes for a table at La Cava. I ordered a Maelstrom Margarita while Doug had a Mexican Mule. We also ordered the chips with salsa, queso, and guacamole. Doug does not like guacamole at all, so this worked for us as he ate the queso, I had the guac, and the salsa was occasionally dipped in by both of us. There was a lot of guacamole, and I couldn’t finish it. One thing to note, they will bring you more chips if needed. We finished the chips in our basket, but we left most of the salsa and a bit of the guac. We checked the time and realized we could make it to see the 5:30 Air Supply show. We quickly flagged down our waiter, paid our bill, and headed as expeditiously as we could to the American pavilion. Once there, the show had just begun, and there was what looked like a queue to get into the theatre so we got in line. A moment later, a cast member indicated the line for was the next show, but if we wanted to watch this show, there was standing room along the right side. We jumped out of the line and were happy to stand on the ramp down the side of the theatre to watch the show. It was a good vantage point. Doug sang along while I dealt with some work stuff via text. G texted to find out where we were and met up with us at the end of the show.

Since one concert is good, we thought two would be great. So next we made our way to the UK for another old favorite, British Revolution. G decided she needed ice cream and made a stop in France at L’Artisan Des Glaces for a double scoop of strawberry. Doug and I left her in France and went ahead to Rose & Crown for another Cider & Black to enjoy while watching the show. We headed to the garden at the back of the UK pavilion to wait for the show.

IMG_0439.JPG
G shared her ice cream because it was more than she could manage on her own. The strawberry was really good! Very strawberry-y without tasting artificial. British Revolution did their set, and we enjoyed it. This is usually a great time for people watching as the crowd is enthusiastic and prone to dancing.

G went off on her own again while Doug and I tried to decide what else to eat before our Illuminations FP. G didn’t want to watch Illuminations and said she’d find us after the show. Doug and I stopped at the La Isla Fresca booth for the Jamaican-braised Beef and the Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer. I know the shrimp gets a lot of love, and it was good, but the beef was better. The flavor profile is just more my thing. We headed into the Illuminations FP area and waited a bit for the show to start. We stood right outside of the Disney Traders shop along the railing next to the building. The ground is sloped in the FP area so this put us on higher ground if anyone stood in front of us. We had a very good view of the show, and it wasn’t crowded where we were.

We met up with G once the show ended and proceeded to make a slow walk around the world. She reported she had walked through shops and rode Gran Fiesta Tour without us. Epcot had EMH this night, but the wait times at 10:00 p.m. were still quite long. I think Test Track was over an hour. We decided to call it a night and head back to the resort. On our way out of Epcot, there was some sort of kerfuffle on the monorail ramp as we walked past. I am not exactly sure what happened, but a woman was screaming at a man (presumably her husband) who was pushing a stroller with a child in it and he somehow overturned the stroller while coming down the ramp. I think the woman was already yelling at the man before overturning the stroller. He righted things quickly, and they kept moving with the woman screaming at the top of her lungs the rest of the way down the ramp and all the way out to the bus loops. I don’t think the child was injured at all because they just kept moving. We branched off for the All Stars loop, and she continued yelling as they made their way past. I was extremely glad they were heading somewhere else!

We arrived back at All Stars Music without further excitement.
 
Day Seven – Adults Night Out!

Doug and I were up around 9:00 on this day. We headed to the laundry room by the Piano Pool and dropped off a couple of loads in the washer. We headed to the food court for breakfast and went with the usual – Mickey waffles for me and a bounty platter for him. After breakfast, we went back to the laundry room to throw wet clothes in the dryer and start another washer load. Doug got in the pool while I lounged and read. G showed up and got in the pool as well. I swapped out the dry clothes for the wet clothes from the washer, folded, and hauled stuff back to the room. I followed this with one more trip to the laundry room to get the remaining clothes from the dryer, again folded, and hauled back to the room. Thanks, Mom, we don’t have to go naked.

We stayed at the pool for a while longer, and I even got in for a few minutes. It was pretty chilly out this day so I didn’t last long in the water.

Doug and I usually plan an evening out alone on our family vacations. We discussed dinner at a signature restaurant or a monorail lounge crawl. We opted for an evening alone in Magic Kingdom with EMH. We went to MK around 5:00. Our first order of business was to fill our popcorn bucket. Our afternoon swim had made us hungry! We veered toward Adventureland, got our refill from the cart next to the Jungle Cruise, and headed to the Enchanted Tiki Room to eat our popcorn. Satiated for the moment, we made our way to BTMRR for our first FP. We had a dinner ADR at Skipper Canteen for 7:05, and we checked in about 15 minutes early. Doug ordered the Sankuru Sadie’s Seafood Stew with an iced tea, and I had the Curried Vegetable Stew with a Blue Moon. And then another Blue Moon. We ended the meal with a Kungaloosh! Service here was very good, and our skipper threw in enough skipper jokes to make it fun.

Following dinner, we made our way to SDMT for our second FP. Well, we attempted to make our way to SDMT. We tried to go through Liberty Square and then into Fantasyland by the Tangled restrooms, but the walkway was closed and CMs were not letting folks through. We ended up taking the long way around through the hub (where everyone was waiting for HEA) and over the Tomorrowland bridge to get to Fantasyland on the other end. Now, I neglected to mention that it was extremely windy this evening. So, it was extremely windy this evening. We later found out this was the reason for our detour. Prior to HEA, they closed off certain areas in Fantasyland because of the windy conditions and concern over the fireworks. We finally arrived at SDMT for our ride. I had worn a hat since it was so windy, and I knew my hair would just end up a tangled mess. So we get on SDMT, and I don’t remove my hat. I’ve ridden this ride many, many times in a baseball cap without an issue. It usually is not a problem.

3f94f9f9-98ce-43dd-b129-2636f10a68ca.jpg b8d41ded-374f-4f03-ab38-1290963f7b7b.jpg
But I did not account for the wind on this evening. Yep, my hat went flying about ¾ of the way through the ride. Straight off my head, without a chance of anyone farther back in the train catching it. I was an unhappy person. First, I get horrible hat hair. So there was the worry of what my head looked like as I walked through Fantasyland toward Tomorrowland. I am extremely vain and will admit it. Second, I really liked that hat. It wasn’t Disney related at all, and I can probably replace it with an exact same (or very close) one, but still. So we headed to our third FP which was for Space Mountain. While walking, I was checking the Shop Parks app to see if any of the nearby stores carried the black Nike hat with a small Mickey on the front. I had considered buying one of these anyway, so I found Mickey’s Star Traders carried it. After Space Mountain, I headed to Star Traders while Doug hit the potty ride. Hat purchased and securely fastened on my head, I could enjoy the rest of the evening.

We headed to Buzz Lightyear where my night approved vastly when I made Galactic Hero and Doug did not. Photopass did not work correctly for us on this ride at all during this trip. I have someone else’s photos, and they weren’t doing the victory dance I was. I believe we also took a spin on the People Mover next because why not? Now, my memory is a little fuzzing on the order of events, but we definitely rode Dumbo, took a ride on the Jungle Cruise (we waited about 25 minutes for this and the park closed while we were riding), and then went off to Pirates of the Caribbean.

ab816285-04f9-44bb-95b9-9ab2486397a0.jpg

We rode It’s a Small World, the carousel, made a trip through the 100-acre wood, and took a spin on the Tea Cups as well. We headed out a little after midnight to return to the resort.
 
Day Eight – MK After Dark

We slept in this day and eventually had lunch at the food court. Doug and I both went with bacon cheeseburgers. He got regular fries while I went with the sweet potato fries. I think G went to the food court before Doug and I did to catch the tail end of breakfast. She got there in time, but I think she decided to get lunch instead and probably ate chicken nuggets again. We lounged in/around the pool for the afternoon. We left for Magic Kingdom a little after 5:00.

Doug and G wer getting on my nerves this afternoon - vacation frustration had set in at this point. I believe Doug and G were in a hurry for some reason and decided to leave the room before I was completely ready. They headed to the bus stop while I took my time. Doug texted me right as I left the room as the bus was only a few minutes out. As I walked to the front of the resort, I seriously considered stopping at the pool bar for a drink to intentionally miss the bus. That’s how annoyed I was at the time. I don’t remember why I was annoyed now, but I was feeling the need for some space from my family at that moment. I rallied, we made the bus, and were at Magic Kingdom a little after 6:00.

G did not have a regular park ticket for this day, so we needed to wait until they were letting people in with DAH tickets. The process had begun when we arrived so we scanned in and got our DAH wristbands. I had scheduled a FP for Space Mountain beginning at 6:35 and that was the direction we headed after entering the park. As we approached Space, we realized the FP line was out past the Lunching Pad. Uh oh, that doesn’t look good. We decided to get dinner instead and then use our FP. We made our way back to Main Street and placed a mobile order for Casey’s while walking. Doug went to grab the food while G and I scouted for a table. It probably took Doug 20 minutes for the food to be ready, and it took 18 minutes before G and I scored a table. I would have felt bad occupying a table without food for 20 minutes, but I had no guilt in claiming it for 2. We all ordered corn dog nuggets, and Doug and I each had a mint julep slushy. I enjoy the food from Casey’s once a trip, but man, it is such a hassle even with mobile ordering to eat at this place. I prefer to stop here at like midnight right before park close. It is the only time it is almost peaceful and tables are plentiful. Plus, it is a great midnight snack! While eating, I got the message that Space Mountain was temporarily closed, and the FP had converted to an anytime FP. Thanks, Mom, for calling it quits and feeding us instead.

We had FPs for SDMT and BTMRR after dinner and rode both.


2e9ca036-4d74-4518-a632-a569bdb82350.jpg
G was still pushing my buttons at this point, Doug said something I wasn’t really happy about either, and I decided I really did need a break from them. I left them to ride BTMRR a second time using the anytime FP, and I headed toward the hub. It was about 8:15-8:30, and I was looking for a spot to maybe sit by myself and watch HEA. I found some open space on the Tomorrowland side not far from the bridge where I stood and waited for a bit. The view was good from this spot without trees in the way. Doug and G texted that they were going to the PeopleMover about 9:00. I decided to give up on HEA and meet them there when they got off the ride. Apologies were made, and we enjoyed the rest of the evening.

We took a ride on Buzz, did the PeopleMover again, and then it was time for DAH to officially start. We lined up at Space Mountain at the FP line where we were held until exactly 10 pm. After riding, we needed sustenance so we headed to the popcorn cart in Tomorrowland. We each had an ice cream sandwich and a soda. We went back to Space Mountain for another ride. After the second ride, I think we stopped again and got popcorn. Doug and I might have had our second ice cream sandwich. I didn’t keep track of times and of us crisscrossing the park, but I know we rode BTMRR two or three more times. We stopped for a third ice cream sandwich from the cart next to BTMRR. We hit SMDT around midnight, and then did some running around Fantasyland for rides on Winnie the Pooh, It’s a Small World, Teacups, Dumbo, and Peter Pan. We ended the night with a final ride on SDMT just after 1:00 a.m. Somewhere in there, we also ate a couple boxes of popcorn each as well.
4b8d4a16-5cdd-40f7-b833-36a49db2819c.jpg
We marked the night up as a success. Doug and I have done DAH at MK three times now. It is well worth the cost for us. G really enjoyed it as well. I do think this event had a lot more people at it than it did in January 2019 or January 2018. I think Disney is selling more tickets than it originally did for these events, and I do not believe this night was sold out. Even with more people than we’ve experienced previously, this event was worth it, but I don’t want to see any more people let in than what we experienced this night.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top