taythecray
TinkerTaylor
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2014
- Messages
- 360
Once we left Magic Kingdom we hopped in the line for the Wilderness Lodge boat which was pulling up a few minutes later. Since everyone else got off, we had the boat to ourselves and decided to sit in the front. It was nice enough out to be up there without freezing, but still cool enough to need our sweatshirts. We really enjoyed the views around the lake, and I made sure to point out the Poly bungalows (my dream place to stay). The one funny moment we had was when Ethan pointed out this....thing poking out of the water by the shore. It was super skinny and seemed to be bobbing its head in the water as it swam. My mom then shouted that it was a water snake! So we were all both grossed out and intrigued by it at the same time. We literally watched it swim for the last half of the boat ride, when all of a sudden it jumped out of the water and flew using its wings! 
Turns out it was a bird with a super skinny head/beak/whatever (we never figured it out because it was so fast) 
We made it to the lodge just before noon and technically a half hour early to our reservation. Since we had some time to kill, we wandered the grounds and then inside the store. I thought the little bridge in the lobby was cute along with the fireplace! Eventually we just decided to check in early (12:15) since the restaurant was practically empty. One of the CM hostesses was from Michigan like us so we chatted with her for a few while they set up our table. I had heard stories about the restaurant and I was hoping that it would still be fun even though we were the only ones there. I was worried at first when our waiter showed up because he seemed like a very mellow/quiet/awkward guy so I wasn't sure what to expect, but he did a great job making things fun for us without being over the top. I think he was a perfect fit for my family.
Food wise...let me see. Macy ordered a shrimp appetizer. The boys and Emily all got the pulled pork and the rest of us got the bacon cheeseburgers. Tony, Devin and Macy enjoyed their endless shakes while Emily and Carter tried out the Florida tap water (and quickly changed to pop)
The food was delicious! I was 1 for 1 with restaurants at that point 
I downed my drink really fast because I was so thirsty, so our first fun experience was watching our waiter bring me a giant mug of sprite and announcing to the restaurant to watch out for me in case I had to make a quick run to the bathroom
When we got our food I kept trying to get Devin to ask them for ketchup but he wouldn't budge, so I was really glad that when they offered, Tony asked for some. A different waitress came back with a giant tray full of ketchup containers and just kept unloading them at our table 
When she was finally done, Emily just stared and was like "I didn't think she was actually going to leave them all on the table!" It was great! I have to say these other experiences were my favorite though:
1: One of the workers made multiple stops behind Macy to play with her Tinkerbell hair bow. He would just always make comments about how pretty it was, and her facial expressions when she felt him behind her were priceless. At times he would just walk by and look over her shoulder at her plate as he walked, but the final time was hysterical. He had snuck up behind her that time and she was totally oblivious. She was basically done eating and just playing with her food, and she said something really random like "this shrimp looks like a potato" and it was then that she noticed him and turned sooooo red and hung her face. The guy then asked if he could have her last shrimp, and she promptly looked at him and shoved it in her mouth whole. He was so upset he never came back
2: Tony is a HUGE stickler for rules at our house. Always calling us "animals" when we don't pick up our stuff and always reminding us that food doesn't belong anywhere besides the table. Well, at the PERFECT moment, he knocked his fork off the table and when he went to pick it up, a passing waitress yelled "Sir, this is why we can't have nice things!" We all DIED
Our waiter then came back and said he had heard about the fork dilemma and Tony quickly declined it happening. It was priceless.
We finished lunch just after 1 but before we left the boys went down to the quick service restaurant and bought their souvenir mugs for the week. We then head back to the boat launch to take us back to Magic Kingdom. I realize I didn't take any pictures at lunch but I was just caught up in everything and honestly forgot I even had my phone at times. I did use it to check wait times at the park on our way back though. To my surprise, Space Mountain and It's A Small World were both down, which was inflating other wait times, and our next fastpass wasn't for another two hours so I wasn't sure what we were going to do. But, we made it work, and I will cover the next part of our park day in the next post
Turns out it was a bird with a super skinny head/beak/whatever (we never figured it out because it was so fast)
We made it to the lodge just before noon and technically a half hour early to our reservation. Since we had some time to kill, we wandered the grounds and then inside the store. I thought the little bridge in the lobby was cute along with the fireplace! Eventually we just decided to check in early (12:15) since the restaurant was practically empty. One of the CM hostesses was from Michigan like us so we chatted with her for a few while they set up our table. I had heard stories about the restaurant and I was hoping that it would still be fun even though we were the only ones there. I was worried at first when our waiter showed up because he seemed like a very mellow/quiet/awkward guy so I wasn't sure what to expect, but he did a great job making things fun for us without being over the top. I think he was a perfect fit for my family.
Food wise...let me see. Macy ordered a shrimp appetizer. The boys and Emily all got the pulled pork and the rest of us got the bacon cheeseburgers. Tony, Devin and Macy enjoyed their endless shakes while Emily and Carter tried out the Florida tap water (and quickly changed to pop)
The food was delicious! I was 1 for 1 with restaurants at that point I downed my drink really fast because I was so thirsty, so our first fun experience was watching our waiter bring me a giant mug of sprite and announcing to the restaurant to watch out for me in case I had to make a quick run to the bathroom When we got our food I kept trying to get Devin to ask them for ketchup but he wouldn't budge, so I was really glad that when they offered, Tony asked for some. A different waitress came back with a giant tray full of ketchup containers and just kept unloading them at our table When she was finally done, Emily just stared and was like "I didn't think she was actually going to leave them all on the table!" It was great! I have to say these other experiences were my favorite though:1: One of the workers made multiple stops behind Macy to play with her Tinkerbell hair bow. He would just always make comments about how pretty it was, and her facial expressions when she felt him behind her were priceless. At times he would just walk by and look over her shoulder at her plate as he walked, but the final time was hysterical. He had snuck up behind her that time and she was totally oblivious. She was basically done eating and just playing with her food, and she said something really random like "this shrimp looks like a potato" and it was then that she noticed him and turned sooooo red and hung her face. The guy then asked if he could have her last shrimp, and she promptly looked at him and shoved it in her mouth whole. He was so upset he never came back
2: Tony is a HUGE stickler for rules at our house. Always calling us "animals" when we don't pick up our stuff and always reminding us that food doesn't belong anywhere besides the table. Well, at the PERFECT moment, he knocked his fork off the table and when he went to pick it up, a passing waitress yelled "Sir, this is why we can't have nice things!" We all DIED
Our waiter then came back and said he had heard about the fork dilemma and Tony quickly declined it happening. It was priceless.
We finished lunch just after 1 but before we left the boys went down to the quick service restaurant and bought their souvenir mugs for the week. We then head back to the boat launch to take us back to Magic Kingdom. I realize I didn't take any pictures at lunch but I was just caught up in everything and honestly forgot I even had my phone at times. I did use it to check wait times at the park on our way back though. To my surprise, Space Mountain and It's A Small World were both down, which was inflating other wait times, and our next fastpass wasn't for another two hours so I wasn't sure what we were going to do. But, we made it work, and I will cover the next part of our park day in the next post
Not only that, but every other ride we wanted to hit was at least 45min. Since our next fastpass wasn't until 3, we had a good hour to kill so we stopped for some pictures and then just hung out by the flagpole for a few trying to figure out what we wanted to do.
We told them we would meet up with them at the end of their ride and then find a spot for the parade. Tinkerbell was one character Macy was really excited about meeting. She attempted to Disneybound as her that day, wearing a white shirt and lime green shorts, along with the Tinkerbell hair bow she had borrowed from me. She also made her own "tinker jar" before the trip filled with lost things like cotton balls, paper clips and buttons that she wanted to show off. So us girls waited in line and it wasn't too bad, definitely worth the wait for the interaction we had. Tinkerbell was so sweet and when Macy showed her the tinker jar she got so excited! 
She started showing it off to the photopass people and asking Macy all sorts of questions about where she found it and how long she had been collecting. I quickly learned after this first interaction that Macy was so shy!! She didn't know what to say to her, so the jar really helped keep the interaction going. Tinkerbell then put the jar on her little shelf to keep and Macy was so thrilled. It was really cute to witness ^_^
I didn't even think to look for other people because it was hard enough keeping our group together XD Here's to a virtual hello!
Instead I grabbed everyone a Haunted Mansion fastpass for 8-9 so we could ride it after fireworks. We then met up with my mom and Emily, since they got off the boat early and decided to do some shopping as well. We wandered around the Christmas store and the Emporium waiting for the rest of the crew to stake our spot out for the Electrical Parade. It was also at this time that Austin's mom was arriving. Since they live close and we don't get to see them often, they opted to meet us at the park for the parade and fireworks. So our group of 9 turned into a group of 14 
We ended up finding a nice almost-front-row spot outside Casey's Corner on Main Street that fit our giant party right around 6. This was actually nice though because we were able to catch up with his family, grab some snacks/dinner and reflect on the day. Mom, Austin and Devin actually all ended up buying the same sweatshirt from the Emporium, so they also took this time to get some nice pictures 
It is such a beautiful display, and the music literally brings me to tears. This really makes the Disney magic hit home. A trip to Disney will never be complete without it. Eventually I'll get that nice front row view of it 
Thanks for being patient!
Seriously though I've always had a hard time keeping blogs/journals, and now apparently trip reports. I also think since I got a double dose of my Disney fix by going to both parks within 5 months, I didn't need to fill the empty void of missing Disney by stalking these boards and writing/planning another trip. But guess what...
But not before I sit down and finish this darn trip report! I don't care that it's been 9 months. I don't care if no one reads. Because gosh darnit I want to have a complete record of the biggest (possibly the best) Disney trip I will ever take! So please excuse the out of date trip report that will now start showing up on the front page of the forum. Also excuse any gaps of memory I have over the exact things we did every day. Thankfully I kept a rough journal of what we did every day while we were there, but I may not remember EVERYTHING 
We wandered the Seas after and got to view a scuba diving demonstration which was a fun treat. Originally we planned on seeing Turtle Talk with Crush but our fastpass window for Spaceship Earth was near its end so we head out for that. My absolute favorite part of that ride was when you reach the top and see the stars and then get to play the game (sadly I do not remember any detail of what my world results were). After that we had a small wait until our Test Track fastpass at 1:15 so everyone decided to just wait in line for Mission Space (green). I sat this one out and since I was hungry, decided to go for some popcorn. The wait wasn’t terrible, and shortly after we got to ride Test Track! I loved designing the car (even though ours was last on most things) and I really enjoyed the ride. After riding Soarin out in California, I have to say I like Test Track better. So thrilling! 
I’ll cover lunch and the World Showcase in the next post.
I'm back on the boards now to research for my next trip and have a few posts pre-typed so I should have a handful of updates this weekend! 
Maybe I packed a sandwich? I can’t imagine I solely at junk food for lunch but maybe I did? Anyway since we just had a snack while everyone else had a full lunch, we got done early and left to explore the inside of the pyramid. After that they still weren’t done, and mom wanted to meet Donald, so I figured this would be a good time to split up and tackle the showcase separately. *Side story with Donald. He’s my mom’s best friend’s favorite character, and it was her birthday, so my mom wanted a picture with Donald holding a Happy Birthday sign to send to her friend. She wrote it on a napkin, but I guess Donald wasn’t allowed to hold it? So that held them up.* 
After that we met up with Austin’s family for our dinner reservation at Garden Grill! It was nice to be able to spend more time with them again and I have to say I think this meal was the best reviewed of our trip. Everybody absolutely LOVED it. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t eat much all day because I got to sample everything and more! Seriously everything was hot/fresh and cooked to perfection. It’s really hard to pick my favorites, but I just loved the turkey, mashed potatoes and mac & cheese. Plus the dessert was to die for! 
I’m honestly surprised I still had room. We also had the characters come to our table three separate times, the interaction was great! However due to the food being so good and being able to catch up with Austin's family.....I didn't take pictures. Sorry! Needless to say we were all completely stuffed and tired after that, but I wasn't leaving yet! Austin opted to take his brothers and Macy on Test Track again while I hung back to chat with family.
Paths were closed and I had to follow traffic. And to top it off, my cell was dead. So I had NO idea where anyone was and everyone was being shuffled out of the park. So that was fun. I wandered forever, talked to security, went into stores and then finally found a cast member that allowed me to use their phone (turns out they were waiting outside the store entrance, go figure). 
It was a stressful end of the day, and I was honestly pretty disappointed I didn’t get to see Illuminations, but overall it was a fun first experience at Epcot (and now I know what to plan for next time). Thank goodness tomorrow as an easier day because I was starting to get worn out.
This was also an optional park day for (most) people, and I think they were glad about it. We somehow all managed to get up and ready in time to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom, then monorail over to the Polynesian for our 10:15 breakfast reservation. The wait was a little long and we got seated around 10:45, but we were brought food pretty quickly. Ohana will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first Disney restaurant I experienced, and it has Lilo & Stitch! For not being big breakfast people, my mom and Tony ate a lot (we all did). Even though it was just the basic breakfast foods, I got another good tally on my dining picks. Current score: 3/3 
Since I wanted to take it easy after that and we still had some time before our next fastpass, we decided to wander. As we rounded the corner we saw Sorcerer Mickey starting got meet! This is Austin's absolute favorite so we definitely stood in the short line. I let Austin meet him alone first, and Mickey got really excited when Austin showed him his Sorcerer Mickey magic bandits! 
After that we walked through One Man's Dream and then over to Star Wars launch bay where I met my first Jawa! (Shameful note: I've only ever seen the new Star Wars, couldn't sit through the old ones even though I know the story) I didn't have anything to trade which was sad, but it was fun to watch him/her interact with everyone. We also did the Disney Visa meet and greet with Darth Vader because, why not? 
The launch bay was also cool even for being new to the universe.
We were sitting there waiting when all of a sudden, Genie, Chip, Dale, Meeko, and the Evil Queen all came out from one of the side doors and just stood around. I of course had to go over and get my pictures taken, then frantically started texting my mom saying they needed to get here ASAP! As I was waiting for them the cast member said they would wait a few more minutes but eventually they had to go but he secretly told me what time they would be back out (mind you all this happened in a span of about 10min). I was thankful for that and told him to expect us back then. It was so nice and private, not many people noticed them. At one point I saw Chip playing with a leaf from the bush behind him, and when I went up for my picture he gave it to me along with a kiss and I put the leaf in my autograph book. 
I just love the ride, Macy kept talking about it leading up to the trip, and my mom just wanted to experience it again. So, we used our fastpass and rode. Right when we got loaded Tony started semi-freaking out because he couldn't find anything to hang onto so that was funny. The drop video really caught his fear 
It also brought about a lot of rain and exhaustion. Before the trip I decided to dedicate one full day for Macy. This was where we could meet all the characters (because she was already doubting their authenticity), ride the smaller/girly rides, and really just spend the day together. This is also where I got to surprise her with lunch in the castle (although I think I was more excited than she was) 
So if you haven't guessed it already, we went back to Magic Kingdom. Devin was technically supposed to come with us, and I had fastpasses lined up for him and Austin, but he bailed so just Austin came with us. Friday also marked our first EMH morning that we finally got to take advantage of, so the three of us made it to the park promptly at 8. There was a steady drizzle so we made sure to walk quickly, but it helped with the crowds. Since we missed it the first day, we headed straight for Space Mountain! This is Austin's favorite and Macy seemed to like it as well. We walked right on and from there headed to see the 8:30 Enchanted Tales with Belle show. Austin was picked to play a suit of armor and Macy was picked to play Philippe! I just love the Lumiere 
