Live Report from the Evans Family

[glevan]

We took a must needed break this morning. We spent about an hour at the pool in Jamacia. We also played on the beach...DS2 and DD5 loved throughing rocks/sand into the lake. We then headed over to the main pool...wow, it's awesome! Kids loves the little kids area. After lunch at Port Royale (pizza), we headed back to the room for naps. I wasn't planning on actually going to sleep...but...

For the evening, we headed to epcot for our ADR at Germany...my favorite. I love the buffet and love the live music/polka. We all danced to the tunes and enjoyed the whole experience (this is our 3rd time and we've loved all three).

Now, to the "timing is everything"...we were going to start for Illuminations. However, the park was very crowed, so we decided to head back to the resort. We left the park a little after 8 and got back to our room. Af few minutes later, my wife wanted me to go out to my parents care and get some more bottle waters. I open the door and it's POURING DOWN RAIN. Talk about nice timing. I did feel bad for all the folks still hanging out at the parks.

Tomorrow we are off to have breakfast in the castle...our first time...DD5 is very excited, but she want's to know why the "boys" have to come this time (she and my wife have always done the princess meals alone)...

Till tomorrow...good night all...

 

[glevan]

Just ask next time. You can wait it out until the next ride and then get the top row in the center. It's like asking to be in the front or back of a roller coaster...you just have to ask and then wait a bit.

We spent the day in the room with the exception of a couple hours for lunch and to wait while our room was cleaned. My sister and her family left this morning and now it's time to start our relaxing week.

One of the only foods I eat at the F&W booths is the cheddar cheese soup in Canada.

Thanks for the tip on soarin'...I'll try that if we go again tomorrow. Also, it's VERY funny that you mentioned the soup. We walked past that booth tonight and I told my mom that the soup sounded really good...if it wasn't just so hot out...

 

[goofyboyzmom]

We have never been to the Food and Wine Festival, but I was just looking at the menus. We were just in Australia in June and I just saw Barramundi on the menu from Australia at the Festival. TRY IT!! It has to be the BEST fish we have ever eaten!! Can't obviously find it anywhere here and I am soo jealous! Have fun!

 

[CanadianPaco]

I am loving this!!! THX for keeping us posted!!!!!

 

[mickeysmiles]

The trip reports have been great keep them coming. We leave in less then 2 months for Thanksgiving in Disney, Our first. And your reports just get us more excited.

 

[diddldonna]

Thanks for the updates, i will be there this time in 2010

 

[Chkultr]

Canada is the 1st booth I hit every year. The soup is amazing, well it all is amazing...

Australia and New Zealand have GREAT lamb

New Orleans have an awesome Cajun Style Crawfish Etouffee (a little spicy)

Poland and the Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie

I love F&W Fest. I eat a little something at ALMOST every booth.

Sounds like you are having a blast. 2010 I am taking my mother and grandmother! Hoping for DDP during F&W Fest! Looking forward to reading how your parents enjoyed it!

 

[glevan]

We started of the day early with breakfast at the Castle. Because we had an early reservation, we were able to get in the park prior to opening. While we walking into the castle, and I mentioned to my wife that I think we have a few minutes, so why don't we do this "thing" I read about on DIS. We could go over and let our DD5 wake up TinkerBell. It worked out perfect. There was one other mother and her daughter that got their before us, but they shared the bell. My daughter had no idea that you could help wake up Tink...she loves Tink, so this was very exciting. Just a bit lucky that I remembered this. We then headed back into the castle for breakfast (our first time). The food was excellent and all the princesses were very nice. My DS2 was so bashful! He wouldn't look at them...it was cute.

After riding a few things (Pooh, Pan, Small World and Buzz), we headed back for a nap. DW and my mother headed to Hollywood for a few hours. I kept the kids and my dad (ha, ha). We were just about to leave for Epcot, when I noticed that it had just started pouring down rain...so, we hung around CBR for about 30 minutes until the storm passed over. It took awhile for our bus to come, but when we got on, most everyone on the bus was soaking wet.

So, nice timing with tinker bell and nice timing with the rain!

We met DW and my mother at Epcot and did Nemo. We then ate in the land...wow, the food was the best counter service we've had. We have no complaints about the other locations we've eaten at, but this was really good. Rotissorri (spelling) chicken, pork roast, several chinese dishes...all of it was very good. Epcot was still busy, but not near as bad as Sat night. We finished the evening by walking around world. DS2 loves the boat ride in Mexico...it's so sad when we get off the ride because he wants "more duck", ",more duck", "more duck"...he would ride this and Small World (without getting off) for hours if Disney would allow it...

Finally, we gathered by Canada near time for Illuminations. As we were siting therd, I remembered the recommendations for the soup...so, I trusted in my fellow DISers and you all were right on...the soup was AWESOME! Thanks for the advice.

BTW, for those that like great candy bars, try the Curly Wurly. You can pick them up in England. My DD5 and I have already finished 3 this trip...soft caramel in a zig-zag shape covered with chocolate...we look fwd to these each trip back.

Have I mentioned how much I love walking around "the world". I think I'm the only one in my family that does, but I just love the feeling, the architecture, all the people from the varying countries, the "local" gifts/food...I love to travel and this gives a bit of a glismp of several different regions/countries.

One last story from a past trip...the first time we were doing the kidcot stops with DD...who would have been 4 at the time...we were going around the world and we crossed a bridge into what looks like Africa. Kids are playing on some drums, etc. We go into the gift shop and ask where the kidcot stop is. The lady working the register looks at us and says "Africa is not a country". Technically, she's right...it's a continent...South Africa is a country, but it just sounded funny to me. I know what she meant...she meant that in "epcot world", this wasn't one of the official countries and therefore, it had not kidcot stop...anyway, I know that's silly, but I found it funny.

Only two more days left...our time is getting short...but, we've had a great time. It's been wonderful seeing how our kids react to the rides as they grow older. Also, my parents have seemed to really enjoy their frist trip...it's always been difficult to describe Disney to them. Their only point of reference is SixFlags and it doesn't compare. Now they get it...they understand the Disney magic...

Till tomorrow, good night...

 

[Lora]

It's interesting to read another person's experiences from the same day in WDW. We went to Blizzard Beach today from about 10 - 1. We came back to our room and had lunch. We were just hanging out watching a movie before heading to Epcot, and that's when the rain came. I was so glad I was in my room at the time. It did seem to come all of a sudden. We were also in Epcot this evening. We did Innoventions (IBM and Velcro) and got fast passes for Test Track. We enjoyed some Cheddar Cheese soup from the Canada booth and then dh and the girls went to Mission Space, etc. Our last ride for the night was Soarin'. It had wait times of about 50-60 min. earlier in the evening, but we caught it just before closing with about a 5 min. wait.

Enjoy your last 2 days!

 

[glevan]

Ok, we've had our share of experiences at DW that were not perfect...everyone has. But, this morning likely topped the list. We get to Animal just after opening at 8. We planned on going on the Safari before our 10AM breakfast with Donald. However, the line was already 30 minutes, so we went off to buglife and dinoland. Things were going ok so far. They we head to TuskerHouse...the line was out into the pathway. It took 25 (yes, 25) minutes just to check in for breakfast...yes, 25 minutes to checkin. Then they told us that we would have at least a 30 minute wait. We said that our FP to the safari would expire...they said go ahead and ride it and when we got back they would seat us ASAP. We did just that but when we got back they looked at us like our heads had fallen off. Anyway, the seated us pretty quickly. Cathy, our waitress was great and extremely apologetic. The restuarant was crowed and nuts. One man was yelling to see a manager. Mickey and Goofy both came to our table, but we asked when we should go see Donald and were told that he was already gone for the day...what?! The staff was trying to do the best they could, but they were over welmed. I think that the breakfast was just way over booked. I will say that the food was good...very good in fact. We then caught the Lion King show and came back to CBR...it ended up being a rough morning...everyone was starving by the time we got to eat and the kids were tired/cranky...even a few adults (myself included) were getting impatient...

Nap time...

 

[SheenaXena21]

I think that the breakfast was just way over booked.

I went to this breakfast back in 2005 when it was over in Dinoland. We were actually 15-20 minutes late and we ended up waiting 10 minutes to check-in and 40 minutes to be seated and it was so crowded. I vowed to never eat a TS breakfast in AK again. THe TS breakfast is way better at MK and alot smoother.

I'm glad you're having a great time, except for this morning.

 

[glevan]

After a long, hard morning, we napped, regrouped and headed out for the evening. Dinner consisted of our first visit to Chef Mickeys...one word...AWESOME...the food was great, we didn't feel rushed, the Chef was great in helping with DS2's food allergies. The desert area was amazing...all kinds of cakes and cookies. My DD5 loved getting to make a desert plate with oreos, gummie bears and m&m's. My wife was in love with the Mikey-bat Oreo's (a ball of chocalate with ears on top of an oreo). I loved the carrot cake (with a spider on top). BTW, did I mention there is a halloween them to the desserts? We all left happy and STUFFED. It's been 5 hours and I'm still stuffed. We've gotten to do several of the character meals. Thus far, I would say Chef Mickey's tops my list. I'm guessing the girls would like one of the princess meals...

After dinner, the women walked over to MK to get some gifts/pictures and the guys headed back for a swim. We ended the night with some game time in the arcade, some watching of the Cowboy's game and, unfortunately, packing. We have one more day in the park tomorrow and then we head over to St. Pete Beach for 4 days.

Last report will come tomorrow night...

 

[MousekaMaddi]

thanx 4 report

 

[ryley26]

I moved this thread to the Trip report Thread. Thanks Rich

 

[glevan]

We had a wonderful day and we are now at the BonAire Hotel in St. Pete Beach...yes, it's sad, our DW trip has ended. We had a great last day, so I'll post some details and a trip summary tomorrow...

good night all...

 

[glevan]

They Disney portion of our vacation is over. It was another great trip and, with a few exceptions, everything went well. We finished the last day with commando disney (we've been taking it easy as to not wear ourselves and the grandparents out). We hit the park at opening after packing up the cars. This was our first "drive" into any disney park. We walked (didn't need the tram) over to the TnT center and took the boat to MK. The boat ride was very magical. The girls went to see the Fairies...1.5 hours, but we'll worth it according to DW and DD5. We had not told DD5 that Tink was at Disney so this was a BIG surprise. As she was in line, she told DW that the walls/decorations looked like Pixie Hollow where Tinker Bell lives...but, Tinker wouldn't be here...boy, was she surprised. After the visit with the fairies, who were awesome apparently, DD5 got to pick out a new Tink book and doll. She won't let either out of her site...she's currently napping with both. We then road 17...yes 17, rides. The crowd was pretty light and we timed the rides pretty well. We used up most of our remaining counter service meals and left the park around 6:30. By that point, a lot of people were showing up for Mickeys Halloween party.

So, here's a quick recap on some goods/bads of the trip
1) Magic Express...last trip were were on the bus for almost 2 hours...this trip went very smooth.
2) CBR...our first visit to this resort and it was very nice. The main pool is awesome, we liked the layout of the food service, and the rooms were just fine for us (2 adults and 2 kids). We ended up putting the pack-n-play in the bathroom area and used the separator curtain to create a "cover" of sorts...DS2 loved his "special" place to sleep. We usually had good bus service and it wasn't any better/worse than we've had at AKL and All-star. We would definitely stay there again.
3) Disney Dining Plan...I'm on the fence on this one...there were lots of good things...we ate a lot, we got to have multiple character meals, we never felt that we were "running out" of meals/snacks...there was plenty. In fact, we ended up with several left over meals. However, the down side was they everyone was using the dining plan, so we couldn't make any adjustements to our existing reservations (that we made at the 90+10 day mark). In addition, I always felt like we were eating...I think I gained 5 pounds...there was just to many meals. One CS is usually plenty for 2 adults. Finally, the snacks were handled so inconsistently. We would get something at one shop and then go to another shop and be told that the same snack didn't qualify for the dining plan...each cast member handled things differently. That said, we had plenty of snacks!
4) Disney with Allergies...the disney chefs were awesome at handling DS2's allergies (milk, eggs, peas, peanuts). On several occasions, they made him some special chicken strips that were milk free. At the buffets, they would walk DW around and point out what he could/couldn't eat. In particular, the chef at Chef Mickey's was so nice and so helpful. He even provided two desserts that DS2 could eat.
4) Restaurants...
Crystal Palace...our second visit and it was as good as always...
Tusker House...never again...it was overbooked by 2x what it should have been. The management/staff was trying their best, they really were. However, it was complete chaos.
Chef Mickeys...we'll be back for sure (and that's saying a lot for me, because I'm not a general fan of the character meals. However, this was the BEST character meals we've been to...the tables were not crammed together, the characters were better space out, the food was fantastic, and the cast members were the best!
LibertyTree Tavern...simple, but great food...always a favorite for us...
Cinderellas Royal Table (Castle)...great atmosphere, being in the castle was awesome...however, it seems a little to "forced"...each of the princesses were very nice, but you could tell that they had a lot on their hands trying to get to each table...
5) Crowds...heavier than I expected, but generally manageable. We make two mistakes...we went to epcot on a Saturday during the F&W festival and we went to AK on a day with extended park hours. Other than that, the crowds were manageable. Notes, we'll always go in the spring or fall...we simply don't have the patience for a summer trip.

In summary, great vacation, we tried some new things and were rewarded. We hope to be back again next year...

For all those soon to go, have a great trip!

The Evans Family...

 

[glevan]

/http://evansbeach.blogspot.com/

I posted a "few" of our pictures online...