Lesson learned. Need more days in Disney!!! Aug 2010 (NEW 1/20-COMPLETE)

[vamassey1]

Loved the update!

You're so nice to share you glow stuff. And giving away your medal is the best! And again when you gave up Cinderella's horse. It's so nice to see someone spreading the Disney Magic.

We've stayed at Pop several times and love it. I like to experience other resorts so I'm glad we finally did a moderate. But DH kept comparing it to Pop. He really liked the food court so much better at Pop.

Taking a break was the best thing in the world. And yes you do need at least 2 days in the MK.

Great Dis meet! I've only had one in WDW and it was great. I got to meet Jordan! It's so nice to really meet others that share our love of Disney.

 

[YukiPhnx]

I missed the update with my photo in it .... darn work!

We loved meeting you and Andrew too! It was such a fun time to go on that POTC ride and look for Hidden Mickeys - we really have to get together again soon!
(oh, and we stayed at Old Key West then, )

Love that you gave out the glow sticks, what a neat idea. Make note, get glowsticks, hand them out, tell them Yuki told them to!

Wish you could join us this summer!

Ohh, Old Key West! I completely forgot.

Haha, YES, tell the children Yuki sent you!!

I'm so sad I couldn't join you this summer. We will have a next time for sure!

Loved the update!

You're so nice to share you glow stuff. And giving away your medal is the best! And again when you gave up Cinderella's horse. It's so nice to see someone spreading the Disney Magic.

We've stayed at Pop several times and love it. I like to experience other resorts so I'm glad we finally did a moderate. But DH kept comparing it to Pop. He really liked the food court so much better at Pop.

Taking a break was the best thing in the world. And yes you do need at least 2 days in the MK.

Great Dis meet! I've only had one in WDW and it was great. I got to meet Jordan! It's so nice to really meet others that share our love of Disney.

Thanks Vanessa! I love giving out magic!

That's funny that your DH preferred Pop! I hear Pop has the best resort food court.

Yeah, definitely learned my lesson. At LEAST 2 days. And one of them has to be an eve EMH. It's the best.

Oh yeah! The Dismeet with Jordan, I remember. Dismeets are always so much fun. I feel like I'm the only Disney fan in my immediate group, it's so great to just geek out with others.

 

[PennyLane1084]

My friends said it's only ok cause I'm a cute little Asian girl and not a creepy old white man.

So True!!

Ok So I think anything is easier to take from a cute little Asian girl. If a cute little Asian girl told me she had cut off my arm, I'd be like "Ok...but only because you're so darn cute!

Awesome Pic

So, we layered the nachoes with cheese, jalapenos and salsa. Ta dah!

MMMMMmmmm

After finishing our "dinner", we went into The Chapeau to find another hidden gem. At the back of the store to the right, there is an old fashioned phone that you can pick up listen to! It's two ladies chatting and gossiping away about somebody. I handed the phone to Andrew to listen to and after a minute or two he went, "Wah!" and put the receiver back. I asked him what happened and he said he heard one of the ladies say, "Hello? I can hear you breathing you know. You shouldn't eavesdrop."

Great Tip! I'll have to give this a try. It's almost like to planned that out. Andrew ends up being a creeper listening in on their conversation.

Your night at MK sounded really fun!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Oops! I missed your last update. Looks like you had such a fun night! I'm glad you went back to your room and took a nap - and that you liked your resort. I'm sure we would too, if the beds were bigger. Don't they only have 2 doubles? I would spend most of my night falling on the floor, so I would sleep alone, which makes Jim a little unhappy

We have never tried Casey's - I have to say those nachos don't make me want to race right in there But on hearing about the back room and wanting to try the nuggets, I'm putting it on my list!

So cool that you got to have a DISmeet! I'm glad Tom and Karin led you to the Dole Whip! They are so nice - I hope to meet them some day too!

Wow - out until 3am! I remember when I had that kind of energy! If we make it to 10pm we're doing good!

 

[YukiPhnx]

So True!!

Ok So I think anything is easier to take from a cute little Asian girl. If a cute little Asian girl told me she had cut off my arm, I'd be like "Ok...but only because you're so darn cute!

MMMMMmmmm

I know, right?

Great Tip! I'll have to give this a try. It's almost like too planned that out. Andrew ends up being a creeper listening in on their conversation.

Haha, yeah! It was such great timing.

Your night at MK sounded really fun!

It was! Very tiring...and my feet hurt, but it was still fun!

Oops! I missed your last update. Looks like you had such a fun night! I'm glad you went back to your room and took a nap - and that you liked your resort. I'm sure we would too, if the beds were bigger. Don't they only have 2 doubles? I would spend most of my night falling on the floor, so I would sleep alone, which makes Jim a little unhappy

Awww, yeah. The beds were not that spacious. I'm sure the king beds would've been much better though. There are just less of those in the buildings. I had initially requested a king bed room, but thought that having another bed meant having a HUGE table and I liked that more.

We have never tried Casey's - I have to say those nachos don't make me want to race right in there But on hearing about the back room and wanting to try the nuggets, I'm putting it on my list!

Never tried it? You really should. The nachos looked pretty good before I drowned it in toppings, but the toppnigs made it even better!

So cool that you got to have a DISmeet! I'm glad Tom and Karin led you to the Dole Whip! They are so nice - I hope to meet them some day too!

I'm forever grateful that they led me to the dole whips. I can't remember why we couldn't find it.

Wow - out until 3am! I remember when I had that kind of energy! If we make it to 10pm we're doing good!

 

[YukiPhnx]

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​

To all my fellow Canadian Disers, have a great Canada Day and long weekend!​

​

 

[YukiPhnx]

Chapter 21. Day 5 pt.1-Taking on The Skillet

Since I had planned for us to stay late at MK's EMH the night before, I made a late lunch ADR for today, so that we'll have time to sleep in. We woke up at noon!!! Oh sleep, how sweet it is during a WDW vacation.

Today was a non-park day because I KNEW we would need time to recoup after MK day to take on the rest of our trip. We are JUST PAST the halfway point of our trip and I was already feeling sad. But I had so many more new things to try, so it didn't really feel like a decline at all. It was more....constantly building up. Like Barney's psyche CD, "AAAALL rises" (From How I Met Your Mother).

We showered and got ready to leave around 1pm for our ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe. My plan for today was to do some resort touring, as well as return to DtD for some Basin shopping. After a few days of thinking of it, I decided I really needed a bath bomb (cause my body was aching ALL OVER) and Andrew really wanted that almond soap.

It was a pretty humid day because of the rain the night before. The clouds were looking pretty dark and it was POURING by the time we got to DtD for our bus connection. Fortunately, sudden downpours usually don't last very long, so it had cleared up by the time we got to the Wilderness Lodge and the sun was already starting to show!

I wanted to take a picture of the entrance, but there was this ugly large green TARP covering most of it. Being the DISer that I am, I was surprised that I didn't hear anything about it before we left for our trip. I was kind of disappointed.

My jaw dropped when we entered.

It was just...beautiful in a really rustic way. It was already 2:15pm by the time we got there and I was SO WORRIED because it's recommended we check in 30mins before and I don't know of ANYBODY else that show up to their ADR RIGHT ON TIME cause that's pretty late so yeah....I was a bit frazzled.

One thing that occurred while we checked in that was a common theme was our name mix-ups. I know my TA did a wonderful job in booking everything for us, but something was lost in the transition and my name is complicated enough really. I assumed it was under my last name, but it wasn't. I asked about my first name. Wasn't there. I was getting pretty freaked by then. I offered to give them my confirmation number but they waved it away.

Oh yeah, that's also a common theme that I noticed. I had all those numbers copied down, but not once did any of the CMs use it, even when they probably should've. Weird.

So, back to looking for our ADR, we tried Andrew's name and VOILA, it was there. This was not the end of our mix-ups unfortunately. It's because Disney wants the name of everyone in our group, but when we book ADRs, some of those names get lost in the shuffle.

So, we were given the buzzer thingy (this was my first time handling one of these things) and were told we could walk around the lobby while we waited. So off we went to take more pictures.

I love this bridge. I can't for the life of me remember why I DIDN'T cross it like the 8 yr old inside of me wanted to.

Oh wait, I DO remember!! Our buzzer was going off. We only had to wait 5 minutes! Late lunches are awesome.

So...is there a good reason why I chose not to take any pictures?

Well....I thought....that there were enough pictures of what I was going to order already...and we were both very hungry....and wanted to just dig in.....and ok, I don't have a very good reason.

We both ordered The Skillet. Couldn't think of anything better than that to order. I got myself the Tinkerbell punch, which is...the Minute Maid punch in a souvenir cup (Toy Story 3 at the time) with a bendy straw that had a Tinkerbell light-up clip-on attached. It wasn't cheap, but to be honest, I did it for Tink. She's my favourite. The punch wasn't bad either.

We both LOVED that the water came in mason jars. Montana's Cookhouse does that now! I'm a lover of cornbread and when that came out....mmmmm, it was very good. Good size, nice and soft, not too crumbley and the butter made it even better.

I made sure to tell our server that we were celebrating Andrew's birthday, but it seemed almost EVERY OTHER GROUP there was celebrating a birthday, so it was Happy Birthday CHA CHA CHA throughout the most of our meal.

Unfortunately, the skillet was just OK for us. The food didn't particularly stick out for us. We really liked the corn cob and unlike Glenn, actually didn't like the chicken very much. We can eat ribs till we die, so we enjoyed that to a degree, but the sauce wasn't spectacular.

We definitely LOVED the atmosphere of the place though. Even though there weren't many of us, it was still pretty rowdy. All the servers just cracked us up and their antics were so funny! None of the antics were directed at us, and I'm not so sure why....Maybe because we were the only 2-people table in the restaurant?

After refilling our skillet for the first time, we were already beat. We weren't sure if we were allowed to pack it to go because most all-you-can-eat places don't allow that, but we thought to ask anyway. Our CM had no problem with that, which was awesome of him. I couldn't bare to see the food go to waste.

Near the end of our meal, there was this little...1.5yr old that was wandering around the tables. Every body could see him just walking up to other tables and such. One of the CMs noticed and yelled, "Runaway baby! Who's got a runaway baby??" The mom came to claim him, but you could tell they weren't worried, which I thought was pretty awesome.

The kid has a very secure attachment. That's psych/sociology talk. It was just very cute to watch. When our CM returned with our 2 big boxes of leftovers, he included some Mickey stickers in them! I'm not sure if I shared this but on my first DtD trip, I went to Guest Relations to ask for the stickers, but they didn't have any. I couldn't wait to give these stickers out.

We paid, we tipped and we were out of there. We will for sure be returning to try out their other foods. I'll probably talk one of my cousins into getting it on our trip, only to try some of it again, but I doubt I'll be getting it myself. Or will I.....? The price might tempt me. It's a pretty good deal.

After our very filling meal, I suggested we walk out the back and check out the beach. Not before rubbing Humphrey's nose though.

We took some more photos of the exterior of the resort. We just loved the look and feel of this place.

Andrew also started noticing prints in the cement! Honestly, if he didn't point these out, I would've completely missed them!

On our way out to the beach, we noticed little lizards (geckos?) darting across the sidewalk. They were SOOO cute, so Andrew videotaped them.

This clip makes me laugh SO hard.



We made our way to the beach (SUCH a nice walk) and walked out on it.

Isn't it beautiful?

I mean, you can't even tell this was taken at a resort that was built around a theme park. We walked onto the beach, but it was all unpleasant because of the rain before. I can't wait to walk on the nice Poly beach. I LOVE beaches.

The pool is very cool looking too.

I didn't know about the geyser so this was a nice surprise!

Ahh, I remember when I was a kid and pretended to smoke when it was REALLY cold out cause you could see your breath.

It got even higher than this, but we weren't sure if it would, so we took a picture.

I think this is one of Andrew's "spot the Yuki" pictures.

We were waiting for a boat to take us to Contemporary. It was nice that there weren't a lot of other guests around. This day was turning out to be very relaxing.

Up next, cartoons in CR!

 

[glennbo123]

Unfortunately, the skillet was just OK for us. The food didn't particularly stick out for us. We really liked the corn cob and unlike Glenn, actually didn't like the chicken very much. We can eat ribs till we die, so we enjoyed that to a degree, but the sauce wasn't spectacular.

Wha? I looooved the chicken!

Ahh, I remember when I was a kid and pretended to smoke when it was REALLY cold out cause you could see your breath.

Great picture!

I think this is one of Andrew's "spot the Yuki" pictures.

I saw one in one of the pictures inside Wilderness Lodge too.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love Wilderness Lodge, I can't wait to stay there again someday although Alek and Erich refuse to eat at Whispering Canyon again.

Love the video.

 

[gumbo1009]

Just stumbled on your TR and needed to post so I could be sure to keep track of it - you've made me smile this evening!

I share your love of Stitch - although I am really a kindred of Nani's... b/c my DD is like a combination of Lilo and Stitch, all rolled into one!

I LOVE your writing style, your humor and your joy, and I am looking forward to the rest of your story...

 

[Kellybelly777]

Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful! It's too bad the food wasn't great, but at least you still enjoyed yourselves

 

[jenbear123]

Nice review of WCC - even without food pics Those clouds look a bit scary. I've never gotten a picture of the geyser going off. It just doesn't cooperate whenever I'm there. Isn't WL gorgeous!!!!

 

[vamassey1]

Love the Wilderness Lodge. So much to see. We ate at WCC in 2009. The food was just okay for me too but we had a blast there. It was one of our favorite meals.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Wha? I looooved the chicken!

I know you did! I almost wish I could give it another chance. Maybe it was an off day.

Great picture!

Thanks! It was Andrew's idea. I'm surprised it turned out as well as it did.

I saw one in one of the pictures inside Wilderness Lodge too.

Yeah...I think he started doing this on our MK day.

Love Wilderness Lodge, I can't wait to stay there again someday although Alek and Erich refuse to eat at Whispering Canyon again.

Love the video.

Why do they refuse? The food is good!

I'd love to stay at WL too. I'm not big on camping, but LOVE spending time in the great outdoors. I think I would really enjoy it.

Thanks about the video! I don't think I paid attention when he was filming, so that part at the end was HILARIOUS.

Just stumbled on your TR and needed to post so I could be sure to keep track of it - you've made me smile this evening!

I share your love of Stitch - although I am really a kindred of Nani's... b/c my DD is like a combination of Lilo and Stitch, all rolled into one!

I LOVE your writing style, your humor and your joy, and I am looking forward to the rest of your story...

Hey there! to my humble TR!!! I'm so glad I could make you smile. That's what I aim for

YES, another lover of Stitch! Here's another hug

Thank you so much for the compliments on my writing style! I have a lot of fun writing it and also had SO MUCH FUN on my trip. It was a lot of firsts for me, even though it was my 2nd trip.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Wilderness Lodge looks beautiful! It's too bad the food wasn't great, but at least you still enjoyed yourselves

Yeah, we definitely had a good time. I'll definitely be spending more time there on my next trip, and going back to try their other food!

Nice review of WCC - even without food pics Those clouds look a bit scary. I've never gotten a picture of the geyser going off. It just doesn't cooperate whenever I'm there. Isn't WL gorgeous!!!!

Thanks! I hope I gave a good idea of my experience.

OH really? I thought the geyser would go off more often. I guess it's not as faithful as it's supposed to be?

WL is BEAUTIFUL. Not just the lobby, but the grounds around it. We really liked walking towards the beach, right next to the resort.

Love the Wilderness Lodge. So much to see. We ate at WCC in 2009. The food was just okay for me too but we had a blast there. It was one of our favorite meals.

Yeah, WCC is so much fun! The food is also well-priced, so you don't feel like you're only paying for the "atmosphere", you know?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Why do they refuse? The food is good!

Well we ate dinner there in 2007 when we stayed at the WL and they got sick, they blame the restaurant.

We also ate breakfast there on this past trip and you will just have to wait until I get to it in my report to find out what happened.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

OH really? I thought the geyser would go off more often. I guess it's not as faithful as it's supposed to be?

It is scheduled to go off every hour on the hour. I only managed to see it once while we stayed there. It is pretty brief so if you are not paying attention you will miss it.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Well we ate dinner there in 2007 when we stayed at the WL and they got sick, they blame the restaurant.

We also ate breakfast there on this past trip and you will just have to wait until I get to it in my report to find out what happened.

Oooooooh, I can't wait!

It is scheduled to go off every hour on the hour. I only managed to see it once while we stayed there. It is pretty brief so if you are not paying attention you will miss it.

Good to know! That's a great shot btw.

 

[Kellybelly777]

[/COLOR]

Great picture

 

[MarieTheCat24]

Oh, Florida downpours....Raining so hard you can't see one minute and then perfectly clear the next. Make up your mind, Mother Nature!

I love the Wilderness Lodge. Not as much as I love the Poly, but it's pretty close. We've stayed there twice, but every single time I enter the lobby, my jaw still drops. It's just so majestic and rustic. It makes me want to put on a plaid shirt and cook baked beans over a fire or something.

WCC cornbread is the best. We haven't been back there in a few years (we were supposed to go this year but plans changed), but the last time we went, I'm pretty sure I ate an entire basket of cornbread by myself. So good.

I'm sorry you didn't find the skillet BLOW YOUR MIND AMAZING. Come to think of it, I never really found it to be that either. I mean, it was good and, as I said before, I could survive off the cornbread, but it wasn't really anywhere near the greatest thing I've ever eaten.

Can't wait to hear more about your relaxing day!