I'm not a foodie, but I play one at WDW. A Trip Report from Christmas 2010

[AJRitz]

I'm exhausted just READING about your Day #2!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Joining in! Sorry I'm late to the party. But I'm glad you enjoyed Le Cellier so much! Can't believe your family broke Space Mountain. And nice job fooling Paw-Paw on RNRC.

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

What a full day! This is good reading.

I don't know how long the lights had been there, the girls sure loved them back in October...

I remember seeing holes in the concrete before, but, this is the first time I remember noticing the lights.

Great update. The look on your son's face shows he was not a fan of the spicy tuna roll.

Bet by the end, you will be saying,"Is it over already?"

In August '09, we were ready to leave when it was time to go. THIS trip... I had 2 more days in me.

I'm exhausted just READING about your Day #2!

Ya know, I was too!

Joining in! Sorry I'm late to the party. But I'm glad you enjoyed Le Cellier so much! Can't believe your family broke Space Mountain. And nice job fooling Paw-Paw on RNRC.

I didn't TRY to almost kill my dad. It just... sort of happened that way.

And, taking shots at older siblings is the only benefit to HAVING an older sibling. BUT, to clear things up, what he's doing here is actually sending a photo of his son & Goofy to grandma & grandpa that could not be there.
So.... In case he's reading along, That's cleared up.

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

Day 3 – Animal Kingdom!
I woke with a start on Wednesday. Then, I realized I’m still in Walt Disney World, so I DON’T need to fret or panic.
Animal Kingdom was running Extra Magic Hours starting at 7:00 a.m. (the ONE benefit to Christmas week… EVERYTHING was running EMH). But, it’s still COLD (45 degrees at 7), so, we take our time, and drive to AK. We learned for us, it’s just easier drive with a stroller. So, room 1 drives, and room 2 takes the bus. We beat them to AK, and go to Tusker House to check in for our 9:15 Character Breakfast. While we wait, DW finds hot chocolate for the guests. Not only is available, it’s FREE! Yes, something FREE at WDW… So, the kids get some coco while I run to get Safari Fast Passes. Room 2 shows, and Mauny Pawpaw gets fastpasses for his room as well. My time is 10:41, his is 10:48, so, we’re dandy.

Then, we go and get our picture with… DONALD DUCK, not a STATUE of Donald Duck, and we are seated.
THIS character breakfast was again, amazing. The character interaction was great! You sit, they come to you. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Daisy… great.

The FOOD at Tusker House was really good. Not just “good for a buffet”, but good! The Jungle Juice they served had something blended… Like orange AND mango? And the Ham (which I did not try) got RAVE reviews from MeMaw, Maunypawpaw, AND my brother. Then, a Cast Member told me I HAD to try these authentic something-or-another. (It was cream of wheat, but had something else). Anyway, THAT was super-good. Once again we got Characters AND a solid breakfast. (DxDDP!!!)

We finished breakfast and had an hour or more to kill for our Safari return. It still wasn’t “warm”, but the bitter cold had moved on. We walked over to Camp Minnie Mickey and they were seating for the Festival of the Lion King show. Backtracking, we’d stumbled upon this show in August ’09. I’d never been to camp Minnie Mickey, and had it not been for the passes a cast member gave us, we never would have gone. HOWEVER, once we DID go, this will be a staple of all future AK visits.
We are seated, and right then, Baby Girl wakes up, and is NOT happy. Not hungry, not wet, just… Not happy (4 month olds do that.) I find a nice, out-of-the-way spot to stand, and I’m not blocking anyone’s view, and she slowly quiets down.

We really all enjoyed the show (who doesn’t) and made our way to Africa.
We hand our fast passes over to the CM. As we are walking down the ramp, we realize Baby Girl needs a clean diaper. But, the fast pass line moves, so while standing in line (AFTER dropping off the stroller), DW in the freezing cold gets the old one OFF, the new one ON, and the Old one into a trash can in… Less than 45 seconds. It was so quick, no one behind us asked us to keep moving… I’m including this because the DW skill needs to be recognized.
Kilimanjaro Safari was, as always, GREAT. Lots of animal pictures. I really enjoy this ride with Mauny Pawpaw, though. If there is ONE job he would love to do at Walt Disney World, it would be driving the Safari trucks. I have to constantly refer to the chart on the truck to see if that’s a gazelle or an antelope or whatever.
MaunyPawPaw had Nephew on his lap, "That’s a crocodile!"
“That’s an Okapi!"
"That’s a spotted glowing flamingo found in a remote area of western Congo near the 4th highest mountain but only on odd dated Wednesdays, and only after a full moon.”
So, yeah, he LOVES the safari.

After that, it’s EXPEDITION EVEREST!!!

I love this attraction!

When deciding what to do, we locate the standby line. This is the first time the crowd level really shows. We see the sign for 100 minutes for standby, and fastpasses returning after 7 p.m. We find a CM and get a switch pass. The CM is the first one we meet from St. Louis, so of course we ask him what High School he went to. In line this time, is Mauny PawPaw, me, and DS7. We walk past an ice cream shoppe, and I get a waffle cone to share. Now, it’s Wednesday, and I just spent my FIRST snack credit. I look at the receipt, and there are FORTY-THREE (43) snack credits left! DxDDP is a LOT of food. Well, we all eat the waffle cone (developed at the 1904 World’s Fair in StL.), and wait some more.
We wait in line and pitched coins at that spot where you pitch coins. Mauny PawPaw got one in on a ricochet, and…. 100 minutes is a LONG wait. But eventually, we ride the train in search of the fabled Yeti.
This time, Pete rides with MaunyPawPaw, and I get a single-rider line member. I also think I’m the only person that actually SEES the Yeti (YetiYetiYeti! (think backyardagains)) every time I ride this, but, he was still there in December. We get off, and Mauny PawPaw is… well, he’s a little rough.
“DS7, why didn’t you TELL me it went backwards!”
“I wanted it to be a surprise!”
“Um, next time, don’t… surprise me like that.”
We walk from Expedition Everest to Dinoland USA, where Baby Girl is napping in the stroller, and Potato, Bean, and Little Man are running on a dinosaur, where they’ve been for 2 hours, and still aren’t bored! Ah, to be 6 or 3.

(The picture here is from Aug 09, but, I wanted to show you what dinosaur I was talking about.)

Mauny pawpaw doesn’t… recover well (or quickly) from Everest. Memaw says that’s fine, she paid his life insurance bill right before we left!
Instead, he sits on a bench with Baby Girl while Bean & Potato ride… that Dinosaur ride that is like Dumbo (name?) while DW, Brother, and DS7 ride Expedition Everest with the Switch Pass. MeMaw & Little Man head back to POR for a Nap (as much for MeMaw as Little man). After Everest, DW, Potato, & DS7 do standby for Dinosaur (the going back in time ride with that guy from CSI), while Pawpaw, DS3, Baby Girl, and I wander around. This time, we see Mickey’s Jingle Jungle parade.

I really liked it. I also got another ice cream to split with DS3. After the parade, though, the crowd size again showed. Keeping track of a stroller, a DS3, and a Pawpaw61 is a LOT of work. It’s step, wait, step, wait all the way to Dinoland USA.
At this point, the lines were AWFUL for everything. They were lining up for the Finding Nemo show that started AFTER the one people were already in line for!

Well, that means it’s time to bag on Animal Kingdom for this trip, and return to POR. We’ve got dinner ressies to prep for!

 

[BigTikiDaddy]

I loved Tusker House, some of the dishes were amazing. We got ressies to go back in August. Our picture with Donald is one of DW's faves, DD2 (16mths) was so amazed by him, just looking in awe.

 

[jason4024]

Sounds like a busy first three days. We love Chef Mickey, but have yet to try the breakfast. We also enjoyed Tusker House for breakfast. Can not wait to read more of your trip report!

 

[dvczerfs]

great updates!!! we hit teppen edo everytime, we love eating there. keep up the good work.

 

[DisDadDoc]

Great reports! You guys really had a packed trip! And love the Canadian shirts

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Well, it sounds like you're still highly enjoying the dining options, and I totally agree that the Lion King show and Expedition Everest are two of the biggest highlights in AK.

Now I will pay respects to your DW's mad diaper-changing skillz.

 

[IllinoisMommy]

It has been so fun reading your trip report
I am in the very early stages of planning a Christmas trip, and I get more and more excited with everything I read about Christmas at Disney
Your kids are adorable!!

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

I loved Tusker House, some of the dishes were amazing. We got ressies to go back in August. Our picture with Donald is one of DW's faves, DD2 (16mths) was so amazed by him, just looking in awe.

Sounds like a busy first three days. We love Chef Mickey, but have yet to try the breakfast. We also enjoyed Tusker House for breakfast. Can not wait to read more of your trip report!

Thanks, guys. I was really surprised how much we enjoyed Tusker House.

Great reports! You guys really had a packed trip! And love the Canadian shirts

We saw a family reunion at the Zoo in town, and they had matching shirts. Based on that, the DW got matching clothes, and that was SO helpful to keep the stress down.

Well, it sounds like you're still highly enjoying the dining options, and I totally agree that the Lion King show and Expedition Everest are two of the biggest highlights in AK.

Now I will pay respects to your DW's mad diaper-changing skillz.

DW has mad skillz with so many things, it's hard to pin-point what she's best at. But for that moment, her best skill was diaper-changing.

It has been so fun reading your trip report
I am in the very early stages of planning a Christmas trip, and I get more and more excited with everything I read about Christmas at Disney
Your kids are adorable!!

Christmastime (12/15-1/1) was JUST as busy as all the boards say they are. No lies there. However, some folks say early December is great. You get all the decorations and none of the crowds. Just what I've heard.
The decorations do, however, make the trip worth-while.

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

There IS such a thing as too much family time. Knowing this in advance, I had made several ADR’s for Wednesday night. My Brother had said he wanted a good steak meal. Apparently, Le Cellier wasn’t enough, he wanted Shula’s. I told him Shula’s was NOT on the dining plan, but Yachtsman’s Steakhouse was. He said he REALLY wanted Yachtsman’s Steakhouse one night.
MeMaw & MaunyPapPaw have been married for 39 years. I wanted to make sure they had a good date-night. I made them an ADR for The Hollywood Brown Derby. I wasn’t going to ruin someone else’s NICE dinner by bringing 4 kids. But I REALLY wanted to know how dinner was. To that end, I sent MeMaw & Pawpaw. Okay, 2 families down. What did I make for our 6?
Um… I didn’t.
We’ll just go to the resort. “Hi, Boatwright’s? Can we eat there?”
“No. We’re full. You can wait, but it’ll be 30 minutes.”
For all my planning, this one I messed up.

“DW, wanna eat counter service in the cafeteria?”
The up-side was that we didn’t waste a lot of time with dinner, and told the kids we’d head to DHS after dinner, and try to ride some rides. Sounds great.
We walk in, and turn left.
Potato has watched EVERY Indiana Jones Movie about 100 times. He saw the sign for the Indiana Jones show, and said, “I want to see it!” We had tried the day before, and the line was standing room only. Well, we walk up to see the wait time, and a Cast Member said, “Hey, are you guys going to go to the show?”
“We want to, but we can’t stand”
“Would the boys want to be Junior Directors?”
?What? Junior directors meaning...? “Oh, you’ll sit is special seats up front, and they say “Lights, Camera, Action!” at the start of the show.
“Um… okay!”

We found out that Memaw & Pawpaw had just finished dinner, and were looking for something to do. They met up with us at Indiana Jones, and, as promised, DS7 and Potato got to say Lights Camera Action! Bean was invited, but he’d fallen asleep. (8:30 is LATE for a 3 year old that walked around Animal Kingdom all day).

Next, I asked Pawpaw about The Hollywood Brown Derby. He said it was well worth 2 meal swipes for him, but agreed that it was good the 4 kids weren’t there, saying had he paid Out of Pocket, and a kid was screaming, he’d be upset. The food was also amazing. One of my folks had grouper, and I don’t remember what the other had. (I didn’t write that down.)

Potato finished the Indiana Jones show, and told us he wants to be Jeremy Brusard when he grows up. (For those that don’t know, that’s the name of the Indiana Jones Stunt Double at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.)

I’ve kind of glossed over Wednesday Evening until this point, to get to our experience with the Osborne Family Christmas lights.

I *can’t* explain what we saw there. I’m posting pictures that do not do this justice. I filmed a video of the dancing lights, but can’t upload it. (computers don't always do what I want them to do, but what I TELL them to do).
But here are pictures. We saw the buildings during the day, but lit up they were….. well, pictures are worth 1,000 words.
Seeing the lights, all I can think is “Perfect Vacation”

I am going to try to find a youtube video of what we saw, even if it isn’t my video.
Osborne Family Christmas


Now, the OTHER benefit of our view of the lights was the time. We were there AFTER the last Indiana Jones show, and AFTER the last Fantasmic! show, meaning crowds for the New York block were LOW. We could actually walk around.
It was getting late, & cold. We walked past the Splash Fountain for a picture of DW & Baby Girl. (DW likes Tom Hanks more than Rita Wilson likes Tom Hanks)

With sleeping boys and a full day coming to an end, we make our way back to the car (Yay Free Parking for resort guests) and head back to POR.
My brother had gotten back to his room following Yachtsman’s Steakhouse, where he saw Ozzie Smith having dinner (13 time gold-glove shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals), and his son was also asleep. MeMaw, DW, and our 4 were all asleep, but it was 10:15, and MK was running EMH till 3 a.m. I asked if PawPaw& Brother were interested. They said no. I said how about a drink in the POR Lounge? They agreed to that.
We make our way for a nightcap, and see,

Wait for it,

BOB JACKSON!

I had read about Bob on the message boards, and heard he was worth seeing. Well again, the boards didn’t lie, and we enjoyed a great show. Even though we didn’t see the whole thing, we still really enjoyed what we did see. And, Bob gave a new definition to “Hole in the Wall” bar. His piano gets a rockin’ (literally) and punched a hole in the wall (that’s the dark spot in the white line in the photo).
That was the end of day 3, and even knowing vacation was “half-over”, I was making the most of everything as best I could. Frankly, I was having a WONDERFUL family vacation. 100% wonderful. A perfect trip made up of perfect moments for 4 perfect days.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Great TR so far! Really enjoying it. We've done DDP many times and last year for the first time we did QSDP. IT was nice to take a break from ADRs. And we had plenty of food to eat, no one went hungry. I can't imagine having the Deluxe one! Can't wait to hear how many credits you had on your last day!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I'm late, but I have an excuse! (Being in Disney World counts as a valid excuse for anything in my book). Great TR so far!

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

Thanks all for reading along with the Trip Report.

I try to update my TR as often as time allows. In the mean time, here are a few additional pictures I took of the decorations. I hope you enjoy them.

I liked this one a lot. They had a net? strung across the street, and the red lights were on that. That's what the red arching lights are all about.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm loving all the pictures of the Christmas decorations. I hope I get to see the Osborne lights in person someday. It's on the Disney bucket list.

And that's way cool that the boys got to be in the Indiana Jones show!

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

Great TR so far! Really enjoying it. We've done DDP many times and last year for the first time we did QSDP. IT was nice to take a break from ADRs. And we had plenty of food to eat, no one went hungry. I can't imagine having the Deluxe one! Can't wait to hear how many credits you had on your last day!

Um... LOTS. Our last day was... oh, LOTS left over. (details to come, so stay tuned!)

I'm late, but I have an excuse! (Being in Disney World counts as a valid excuse for anything in my book). Great TR so far!

Of course being at WDW (or Texas) count as reasons. As do painting the house or watching grass grow. I'm just happy folks are reading along....

I'm loving all the pictures of the Christmas decorations. I hope I get to see the Osborne lights in person someday. It's on the Disney bucket list.
And that's way cool that the boys got to be in the Indiana Jones show!

I saw a special on HGTV about Disney's decorations. They talked about setting up the Osborne lights, but I didn't watch the end of the show. Seeing them in person really was fabulous. It was one of those things you know Disney *can't* do all the time, but you wish for the sake of people that only go to Disney once in their lives could still see.
And having the Junior Directors was great! Potato was reluctant at first. He'd seen the show, and we found out he was nervous to have the spikes come up & get him! Once we figured out that was his issue, we calmed his fears and he was good.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow, you're bringing the updates out fast. Really a great TR. I love all the pictures of the Christmas lights and decorations and I can't wait to see them in person.

I like all your planning and ADR's. It looks like you guys are getting a chance to sample a pretty good variety of food. From one standpoint, I'd love to have DxDP because I'd probably try some TS restaurants I might otherwise pass by, but at the same time, that's a lot of food and planning.

By the way... really loved the story about RnR... telling your dad it goes upside down right before the launch. Priceless!

 

[unclescrooge_0707]

Day 4 (Four? Wow. fast week) – Thursday

We’d had a LATE night Wednesday, and were not in a super-duper rush. Our next scheduled event was a 12:15 ADR for Rose & Crown. I woke up, got ready, and grabbed 2 kids and 4 resort refillable mugs (included in the DxDDP) and headed to the food court.

THIS time, I looked, and (queue Christmas tune here)

Do you see what I see, (what I see what I see)
A WAFFLE, A Waffle,
Shaped like Mickey Mouse,
and it’s the size of an entire plate….
It’s the size of the entire plate….
(I’m singing this as I’m typing it, as though everyone can hear me. Sorry about that.)

I wasn’t PLANNING on getting breakfast (pop tarts were in the room), but, my decision was made for me!
I got back to the room, and found the DW telling me that Bean had shoved a bunch of yogurt-covered raisins up his nose. Ah, kids…

We drove to Epcot to get some good rides in before lunch. First stop: Mission Space. Switchpass for us, then DS7 and I rode, while DW, Potato, Bean, & Baby Girl walked around. (DW did take our tickets to get fast passes for Test Track, for later in the day).
I had never ridden Mission Space. All I knew was there was an Orange side, and a Green side. I left the choice up to DS7, and he picked Orange. Okay, orange it was.
There was an OLD(er) couple in line in front of us on the Orange side. I was… Nervous for them. But, I was also thinking, “If they can do it, so can I.”

Then, they bailed at got on the Green side.

Mission Space was… I’ll say it like this. Now that I’ve ridden Mission Space, I don’t know that I need to do it again. Even the DS7 was reluctant to say he liked it. Following the ride, though, I was plenty content to walk around… snacking on the pretzel or popcorn or whatever nash-y food the DW had gotten while out & about with the other munchkins. It helped settle whatever was unsettled following Mission Space: Orange.

We were nearing time, and went towards the Great Britain pavilion.

I went to check-in at Rose & Crown, to see if we could bump our 12:15 until 11:45, since we were there. The “blokes” outside at the check-in let us know they don’t open until noon, but would get to us as soon as they could.
At that point, I asked about their football team preferences, and one pointed to some obscure Division 3 league team. The other 2 had “usual” favorites. Aaran (from Scotland) chose Celtic. I don’t remember the last one. Thankfully, no one I ran into picked Man U or Chelsea. (It’s like cheering for the Yankees. ANYONE can win when they buy players.)

And I didn’t want to be one of those people with 11 ADR’s for one meal. So, I walked over to Le Cellier to tell them we would NOT be using our 11:50 ADR. And who did I see? HANNAH! She was great (again), and even remembered seeing us and our Canadian uniforms from Monday. Ah, memories, even if they are only 3 days old. She did thank me for canceling my ADR, though.
(As a favor to everyone, if you make multiple ADR’s, once you know which one you’re going to use, a quick phone-call to 407-WDW-Dine can cancel those)

I went back to the UK, and I asked for a recommendation on Beer . All 3 of the guys said Bass, nearly in unison. Bass it is. I found my way to the garden area kind of in the back of the UK pavilion. Having been my 5th trip, I assumed I knew most things about WDW. This area, however, was nothing I’d ever seen before. It was BEAUTIFUL and, frankly, slow, quiet, and out-of-the-way. I was able to sit while Nephew, Potato, and Bean played in the dirt (right before we ate. I know, I’m a bad dad). But really, they had a blast, and weren’t in anyone else’s way. It was (and is) probably my favorite “spot” at WDW for the moment.

We get our pager, it goes off, and we’re seated inside the dining room, and our server (Emily) shows up. Emily, it seems, had lost her nametag. The one she was wearing said she was from Canada. As it turns out, the Canadian Emily was the only other “Emily” nearby with a spare nametag.
We ordered lunch.
I just checked my notes, and I did not write down what I had, only that I said whatever it was only merited a “meh.” I also remember stealing leftover fish & chips from the kids’ plates, and THAT was good stuff. When I go back to WDW, I’ll be content to hit the “fish & chips window” and not have to eat AT the Rose & Crown again.
(Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience, but for FOOD, Fish & Chips was tasty enough)

Following lunch, Memaw took Nephew for a nap. DW took Baby Girl, Bean, and Potato for a walk while PawPaw, my brother, DS7 and I rode Test Track with the fast passes. Following Test Track, DW took everyone back to the Hotel. DS7 and My brother rode Mission Space with the switch pass, and Mauny PawPaw & I walked world showcase.

The “plan” was get an espresso from Italy. We got there, and espresso was NOT on the dining plan. There was a cookie thing on the menu that was $2 MORE expensive that WAS on the Dining Plan snack credit, but not an Alcohol-free espresso. WTH?
C’mon, Disney, I just want a fancy coffee since I’m getting tired.
Still no? fine! I’ll go to Deutschland instead.

Pawpaw and I walked to Germany where I got a pretzel (which WAS a snack on the Dining plan thankyouverymuch) and I bought an Oktoberfest beer in the Gross (large) glass. (Klein would have been the small… for those keeping score, or planning to order their own).

We got a text from my brother that they were done with Mission Space, and that DS7 was sitting and having a break, as that last run was a little more rough on him than he expected it to be. We slowly walked to the busses, and took some time to take pictures.

We grabbed the bus to POR in order to get ready for our next ADR, the Luau at the Polynesian Resort. When we did get back to the resort, we found Mousekeeping had made some nice towel animals for us. My favorite was the toothbrush holder.

We started getting ready for the evening, but I think that will wait for the next post.
So far, I hope everyone reading as been abiding by my personal catch phrase

~Lovin' every minute of it~

 

[IamTrike]

Day 4 (Four? Wow. fast week) – Thursday

Disney time always moves twice as fast as normal time, don't worry the universe makes up for it by making the week before a Disney trip seem twice as long.

Do you see what I see, (what I see what I see)
A WAFFLE, A Waffle,
Shaped like Mickey Mouse,
and it’s the size of an entire plate….
It’s the size of the entire plate….
(I’m singing this as I’m typing it, as though everyone can hear me. Sorry about that.)

Huzzah! Full size waffle ftw! I've been reading your TR and was worried you might starve if you didn't find one of those.

I got back to the room, and found the DW telling me that Bean had shoved a bunch of yogurt-covered raisins up his nose. Ah, kids…

Well thats one way to get food into the park without having to wait in the bag check line.

There was an OLD(er) couple in line in front of us on the Orange side. I was… Nervous for them. But, I was also thinking, “If they can do it, so can I.”

I was thinking that you were going to wait until they were buckled into the same space ship with you before you told them orange is the more intense side.

And I didn’t want to be one of those people with 11 ADR’s for one meal. So, I walked over to Le Cellier to tell them we would NOT be using our 11:50 ADR.

I was thinking on the DXDP you wound up with meal times where you needed to eat at 11 different places just to use up credits.

I went back to the UK, and I asked for a recommendation on Beer . All 3 of the guys said Bass, nearly in unison. Bass it is. I found my way to the garden area kind of in the back of the UK pavilion. Having been my 5th trip, I assumed I knew most things about WDW. This area, however, was nothing I’d ever seen before. It was BEAUTIFUL and, frankly, slow, quiet, and out-of-the-way. I was able to sit while Nephew, Potato, and Bean played in the dirt (right before we ate. I know, I’m a bad dad). But really, they had a blast, and weren’t in anyone else’s way. It was (and is) probably my favorite “spot” at WDW for the moment.

Nice tip

We get our pager, it goes off, and we’re seated inside the dining room, and our server (Emily) shows up. Emily, it seems, had lost her nametag. The one she was wearing said she was from Canada. As it turns out, the Canadian Emily was the only other “Emily” nearby with a spare nametag.
We ordered lunch.
I just checked my notes, and I did not write down what I had, only that I said whatever it was only merited a “meh.” I also remember stealing leftover fish & chips from the kids’ plates, and THAT was good stuff. When I go back to WDW, I’ll be content to hit the “fish & chips window” and not have to eat AT the Rose & Crown again.

All the British food except the Fish and Chips was Meh!, that's Disney going above and beyond to accurately represent local cuisine.

The “plan” was get an espresso from Italy. We got there, and espresso was NOT on the dining plan. There was a cookie thing on the menu that was $2 MORE expensive that WAS on the Dining Plan snack credit, but not an Alcohol-free espresso. WTH?

All part of Disney's evil master plan of trying to get everyone to like their horrible regular coffee. FWIW you can get a Frappichino type beverage out front of the American Pavilion for a snack credit.

We grabbed the bus to POR in order to get ready for our next ADR, the Luau at the Polynesian Resort. When we did get back to the resort, we found Mousekeeping had made some nice towel animals for us. My favorite was the toothbrush holder.

Hurray for mousekeeping, and hurray for more food.