Mickey's Hand is in my Pocket II! & DH's P.O.V: pg 19-7/20 On Our Way Home....

[312.Duck]

addendum to above post...

--*
Granted, a majority love the Magic Kingdom the most, but for many like me that's not necessarily the most visited. While I believe the Magic Kingdom is the most essential of all parks (of course...it's where the pipeline to the SOURCE of all magic (DISNEYLAND ) terminates), it doesn't offer as many new wrinkles and attractions the others may over time. e.g. During Food & Wine fest I may have to hit Epcot 2 or 3 times to get it all in. Animal Kingdom easily takes two trips + patience to realize everything IT has to offer. Purely tactical. You get my drift.
--*

And anudder ting - the boat from Hollywood Studios:
(this is probably rehash from millions of TR's before this...)
IMHO, Unless you're at Yacht & Beach Club AND you're in position to immediately catch it (pulling up, short-ish line), don't bother.
The wait is twice as long as a S L O W walk home, doesn't stop at the Villas, goes all the way around to the Boardwalk.
OK, maybe once just to experience it.

Map of Riverwalk from Boardwalk Villas to Hollywood Studios:

Click to Enlarge

A few more pics along the Riverwalk, heading to Hollywood Studios...
(all pics clickable for full size versions)

OK, underneath the bridge doesn't give the most flattering view
along the riverwalk back towards the Villas...

Turning around gives...




Getting closer to Hollywood Studios, looking back...


TOWER OF TERROR!


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...More to come!

 

[312.Duck]

One thing which struck me about the BW was how gorgeous the walk is in the morning hours...


My cheesey attempt at a photo stitch in Paint...
(Click & click again to view)

...somewhere I had a nice li'l vid panning around...gotta find it.
¶¶¶¶¶

fOUND it.

FWIW:

Click to Play . Click to Play . Click to Play . Click to Play . Click to Play . Click to Play .

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

I just played the boardwalk video and DH sighed and wished he was there right now. Great posts! Looks like the weather was typical Florida gorgeous!

 

[312.Duck]

Thanks. I get the same feeling watching it myself. Knowing that's my eye taking that video makes me long to be back there even more. Yes, the weather was GORGEOUS...I can picture it, feel it, just thinking about it.


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...More to come!

 

[312.Duck]

Before I continue, I need to show one of my favorite parts of Hollywood Studios.
These things are so cool and innovative, I'm surprised they're not at (or maybe they are) EPCOT.

 

[312.Duck]

Originally Posted by TyRy
I’m thinking DH must really like it cause he loves things from the 50’s and
60’s…he’d probably furnish our house with half the stuff in this restaurant.


That's right. I'd love to recreate an old 60's basement.
While I LOVE those old bubble-lookin' screen televisions, I'm sold on HD.
Let's see...maybe we could concoct an old time oblong HD throwback...

Old Fashioned HDTV. (No Photoshop at work...quick cheese with Paint) heeheehee...


Originally Posted by TyRy
DH liked his pot roast (which I tried and was really yummy) but thought it was
on the smallish side. I thought it was a normal portion. I also got DH to eat
my “greens” as I told him we might not get dessert otherwise. We did order dessert – the Smores

Yeah...I'm definitely not a huge fan of Disney dining..........some of the experiences are great,
and the pictures all y'all post are delicious looking, but... I'd opine that a majority of food at Disney is so-so in terms of value.
I understand you're paying for the Disney experience...that's fine, no problem; I expect that,and request that for the future of DW.
Yet at times the execution fails (great looking, OK quality), or the amounts are simply not worth the $$ spent.

eg.
This pot roast tasted just fine, but the portion was disaapointing. I mean, come on...this is pot roast, not some exotic bird to be served as an art form. I think the pictures TyRy posted above must add 10 grams.

I'll give them an A++ if their focus is on leaving room to sell you dessert!
Speaking of which...
s'mores - OK. Price wasn't bad, but I've had much better s'mores just about everywhere.
Stone Mill pale ale was pretty much ..... pale. I'd suggest they get another ale sponsor. Cool name, lame ale.

Stone Mill

Originally Posted by TyRy
People say that you don’t save anything with it, but I disagree. We tend to
tip 20%, so we looked at it like we got all the tips for free. When I did the
analysis when I got home, we ended up saving about three hundred dollars...

Without question. We came out ahead, and the DDE helps promote a better dining experience whereas the DDP seems to be lowering the quality of, IMO.
The only caveat to that is for buffet-style dining, a la Hollywood & Vine, or Boma.
Unless you agree with giving an 18% tip for service that amounts to clearing your plates and refilling your soda, I'd recommend paying cash.
I guess those who don't understand how waitresses are paid and how that affects dining prices would disagree as well...but I'm sure that's a whole 'nother argument well hashed out here many times before.

For the record, I am anti-Disney Dining Plan.
I believe the DDP (along with general economic issues + branding) has led to a decline in counter service throughout the parks,
and to some extent, the resorts.
I don't have any empirical proof of this, but my experience on the DDP supports that assumption.
I think that's a discussion/rant for another time, 'nother thread.

Please, don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE dining at Disney...there are individual experiences at just about every restaurant/counter that someone is going to adore. Yet I also believe that over time I'll be figuring out just exactly what at which places I'm going to have in the future, and not just eating for the sake of an experience.

 

[312.Duck]

Originally Posted by TyRy
We decide we would come back to it later in the week (famous last words!) and
go see Voyage of the Little Mermaid... It really is a good show and I think DH even liked it.

I did. I don't think I've ever watched The Little Mermaid.
I was deprived of Disney as the last child, and thought it was a little girls flick <> when it was on.
Well, I cried like a little girl. My right eye is teary as I'm typing this.


Originally Posted by TyRy
It’s now about 7:45 and Fantasmic is in 15 minutes…
She seats us and then a minute later a lady comes back and starts asking her
DH why he let the CM give up seats..at least that’s what my DH said…I couldn’t hear the conversation.

Yeah...that was a bit uncomfortable...
The lady next to us was saying, "I can't believe they did that. Why would they do that?"
It was no one's fault, really. When the CM's are rushing about getting folks seated, they can't necessarily be darting up and down the stairs asking everyone in every row if they're all there - u know, it's pretty hectic.

Also can't fault anyone not in their seats due to being stuck in a long line for popcorn and soda either!

"No Coke, Pepsi!"



Originally Posted by TyRy
It didn’t dawn on me till the next day (after I’d had some sleep and my brain was functioning again) that had I simply left the room and gone out the exit right next to our room I wouldn’t have had the trees blocking my view!

Yes! That li'l area just in front should give a nice view of the show for anyone in this part of the BWV!

There existed a perfect view of show, within close range of her camera.

Distance from TyRy's butt to a perfect viewing area, LOL...

Overall sitelines from sitting area outside our BWV wing to Illuminations...


_____________________________
...More to come!

 

[312.Duck]

Our drinks come and I actually get a star glow cube…had no idea they came in stars. And my Dad’s Electric Lemonade was outstanding on top of it.

It's even cooler on video...

Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play!



Here's a video from above, showing her "Star" cube!

Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play!


_______________________
...More to come!

 

[312.Duck]

After getting involved in trip reports in 2006 (well sort of...I started out hot, and petered out somewhere around Day 03...lame, won't happen again),
I decided to jot down notes to help jog my memory after each day's activities.

Each night I logged some "short hand" notes in Notepad.
Figured I'll post them here (including all misspellings, and such) at the end
of each Day's Reports for a laugh (sans any dirty words, of course).

Day 01 FRI-

[FONT=Arial]Day 01 FRI- up for flight, back already sore, twist knee, nice flight, quick car ride, check in, walk around, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]go to Belz, cry, go to get beer, go to room, long hallway, bed is awesome, room is worn a bit, but still great, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]check out exits from bell boy, pool(s), go to 50s Prime Time, had beer, Narnia, Ariel 3D thing, Phantasmic, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]walked path home in leiu of boat, sore knee, Philly fans...crash time...photopasses...[/FONT]

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...More to come!

 

[tiggerbell]

Day 01 FRI-

[FONT=Arial]Day 01 FRI- up for flight, back already sore, twist knee, nice flight, quick car ride, check in, walk around, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]go to Belz, cry, go to get beer, go to room, long hallway, bed is awesome, room is worn a bit, but still great, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]check out exits from bell boy, pool(s), go to 50s Prime Time, had beer, Narnia, Ariel 3D thing, Phantasmic, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]walked path home in leiu of boat, sore knee, Philly fans...crash time...photopasses...[/FONT]

___________________________
...More to come!

Now that's a trip report!!!

 

[TyRy]

Great first day guys!

I LOVE how you both are telling your story...

the video above ^^^^ I feel ya Tracy, I feel ya!

I'm just glad he understood the undertone of "you're never making me wait this long again"

 

[TyRy]

Saturday dawns after we slept in a little bit – I think it was till 9am LOL - as promised to DH, and the plan today was to hit Downtown Disney, do a little shopping and get DH his Manhattan Clam Chowder he asked for about TWO weeks before the trip. Dinner was at O’Hana and then to the MK for Spectro and Wishes. Spectro is the ONLY parade that DH likes, so I was making sure we got to see it.

So we leave to grab a little something on the BW to eat, but DH is distracted by the two towering buildings just behind us. That would be the Swan and Dolphin Well, since we never really explored them, let’s go take a peek. Plus, we were still trying to find somewhere besides ESPN Zone for DH and DFIL to watch the playoffs that coming week. The hotels really do look nice, and have some cool fountains, but did not give me that Disney vibe.

Alas, they didn’t have a bar, at least that we could find that would have spots to watch a game. Maybe the bars were hidden and we just couldn’t find them. We also jumped on an elevator and took it up to one of the higher floors…wanted to see the view. Execpt there was no view The rooms have the windows and the hallways had none. Perhaps I’m used to resorts now (like the WL or AKL) that have windows that you can look out while you are walking to your room. I really enjoy that. These hallways just seemed dark and blah to me.

So after our little S&D excursion and noting we were glad we did it cause now we probably won’t stay there, we decide to check out Beach Club a little more.

We finally saw SAB up close and it is really cool – I could see that being major incentive to stay there.

It was also getting close to lunch and I kept pointing that out to DH. He then wanted to know why we were going to the restaurant again:
Me: Because you were whining about getting Manhattan Clam Chowder
Him: Well – what are you getting?
Me: I don’t know…a small salad or something, nothing I really like on the menu and I don’t want a big lunch since we are going to O’Hana.
Him: Then why are we going
Me: I just told you why!
You get the gist – so the decision was suddenly made that since we were sooo close to Epcot, maybe we should see if we could still have soup…but at Chef’s De France. It's now all up to WDW-DINE....

 

[312.Duck]

TyRy sez - Saturday dawns after we slept in a little bit – I think it was till 9am LOL

LOL? As if that's late?

Well, let's peek at my notes from Day 02:

"Day 02 - slept like ---- on wrong side of bed, back & knee killing me...
...get up, start stretching, she goes to bakery..."

The first thing I noted when I we got our room was how damn comfy the bed was.
Well, apparently the other half wasn't so comfy, cuz that's the side DW made me crash on. GUH!

My back was already sore from previous injury, and when I woke up I thought I was going to be stuck in all day.
She went out on her own, I took my "old man" time getting ready.

My knee was also really sore the first couple days as I injured that in a mishap on the morning we left. Anyone who's been there knows that either a knee or back injury can keep you immobile, and I had both. Brutal.

I decided I would JUST stretch every morning no matter how sore just to stay loose and mobile...something I should be doing anyway
This ulitmately worked throughout the trip.

Eventually I got ready...


...and we walked around the resort a bit, over by Belle Vue Lounge... the lounge which I utterly adored.
It's done in an old time East Coast style from the early part of the last century. I was eatin' it up!

No pics, but we do have video we need to capture from the camera...

 

[312.Duck]

As TyRy stated, we ended up walking around the Swan and Dolphin...

We had never checked those out before, and I decided to do a quick walk-thru.

My impressions-

Dolphin looks more imposing with the tall triangular middle section, the immediate hike up the stairs/escalator when you enter from the back, neat water effects for the bluezoo restaurant, Shula's steakhouse, the cavernous lobby. The Dolphin also has that cool "shell" waterfall...

Swan look more majestic...sweeping curves, and the interior design seems a bit more formal, and less "contemporary" than the Dolphin. Also like the courtyards on the main level. It also seems the Swan has a better variety of restaurants. Dolphin has Shula's, but I liked the mix at Swan with the Italian and Japanese joints.

Dolphin waterfall:

Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! .


bluezoo entrance:

Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! .


Swan waterfall thingies on roof:

Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! . Click to Play! .


We did snoop around the

's upper floors, trying to sneak a peek out from a hallway window, only to find out there are none, LOL.

On about the 16th floor we saw someone with their room door open.
We walked briskly by, but the uneasy thing about the

is that the hallways get progressively smaller as you near the top...so it's not like you can walk down and around a hall acting as if you're heading to "a room."

While we weren't voyeurs about it, the cursory glance we did get showed that the rooms aren't very large at all...
Pretty much standard hotel fare:
bathoom by the entrance/ two beds/ and barely room for a small table near the window. I'm thinking I'd feel somewhat clausterphobic up there, and would likely end up where I should be on a Disney vacation - outside!

I do want to stay at both the

and the

at least once to experience their views, though.

________________________
...More to come!!!

 

[DisneyJo]

Not sure why but I've never fancied staying at the swolphin, now I definitely don't

Love the soup discussion

 

[TyRy]

LOL? As if that's late?

For Disney it is

"Day 02 - slept like ---- on wrong side of bed, back & knee killing me...
...get up, start stretching, she goes to bakery..."


The first thing I noted when I we got our room was how damn comfy the bed was.
Well, apparently the other half wasn't so comfy, cuz that's the side DW made me crash on. GUH!

Poor baby - remember what happened to me when I slept on the wrong side when we moved to AKV...no sympathies!

...and we walked around the resort a bit, over by <insert name of Boardwalk's Lounge here> the lounge which I utterly adored.
It's done in an old time East Coast style from the early part of the last century. I was eatin' it up!

Belle Vue Lounge...I'm sad we never got to have a drink there, it just didn't work out...too sleepy our first night and we were at the MK until almost midnight on our second. Next time.

 

[312.Duck]

It was also getting close to lunch and I kept pointing that out to DH. He then wanted to know why we were going to the restaurant again:

Me: Because you were whining about getting Manhattan Clam Chowder
Him: Well – what are you getting?
Me: I don’t know…a small salad or something, nothing I really like on the menu and I don’t want a big lunch since we are going to O’Hana.
Him: Then why are we going
Me: I just told you why!

You get the gist – so the decision was suddenly made that since we were sooo close to Epcot, maybe we should see if we could still have soup…but at Chef’s De France. It's now all up to WDW-DINE....

Baaah! She's goofy!
I only stated if I was going to have Clam Chowder, I wanted Manhattan Clam Chowder -- tired of New England Clam Chowder. So she set up a reservation at the place which had MCH (Captain Jack's). It did sound good, though, but I was sore, hungry, and a few steps from Food & Wine.

 

[312.Duck]

Not sure why but I've never fancied staying at the swolphin, now I definitely don't

LOL...obviously I haven't read enuff here...that's a 1st for me!

ANYWAY, after our li'l Swolphin excursion, we headed for a quick stroll by the Yacht/Beach Club...checked out the amazing pool, but not before TyRy stopped to pose by those most adorable Boardwalk signs, the postcard lookin' things they used for the room numbers...

...then off to Epcot to jam our li'l tummies...

 

[312.Duck]

After strolling over to Epcot from the Beach Club, I noticed People kept staring at me all funny...as if I had my "Mickey ears" on wrong or something.

Not sure what their problem was...I think they were jealous they had to wear Mickey ears, when I actually GREW Mickey ears that day...

​

 

[TyRy]

So a fairly quick call to Dining was made and lo and behold they could get us in at 12:30 at Chefs – awesome! So his red fishy soup was dumped out in favor of the best French Onion Soup on property. So

And yeah we get to Eppy Cot a whole couple of days earlier than we thought!

Over the bridge we head towards the International Gateway and it was here we received our one and only dream this trip..the members of the Dream Squad were handing out special Year of a Million Dreams Mickey Ears. Yep - that's how DH "grew" his ears

I swear that was one of only a couple of times that we saw them the entire trip.

We had a little time to kill and WS was empty still, so we walked around. This was our dumb move. Since we were only having soup, we figured we could have a few little snacks along the way. He stopped at Morocco for Kefta

Then I stopped at San Francisco for a Seared Beef Medallion with Cheese Polenta

Then again a stop was made in Italy for the Baked Ziti.

The ziti was a huge portion and we both shared it. It was now time for lunch…even though we probably could have survived on what we had just eaten, but I wanted that soup!

So we check in and still have about a ten minute wait, but are finally seated. Clement from Bordeaux is our waiter…why I did not get a picture of him is beyond me. Ladies, you need to ask for Clement when visiting Chefs De France. Anyway so we order our drinks, Sprite for me, but a Kir au Cassis for DH.

Both of us ordered just the soup for lunch, Clement seemed a little surprised but went with it anyway. The soup came and was delicious as usual.

BUT – we were so full from snacking around the world that we almost could not finish it. It took a lot of willpower to eat it all, but I was not going to let it go to waste LOL.

By the time we got back out into WS it was now PACKED! I did however have room for one thing in particular. Somehow on all our previous trips I had always missed this little gem and I was not about to let it get away from me this time. And there it was….my Grey Goose Citron Slushie

Oh my, was it good – and it was pretty strong. I drink vodka and this almost knocked me on my butt for a minute. But it was really really good. DH couldn’t taste the vodka, but I reminded him that’s what makes a good drink. He reminded me that’s what makes a hungover TyRy! So I just had the one. DH then spotted a Chocolate Crème Brulee and had to have it even though he was full as well.

After wandering around a bit, but it was so crowded we made the decision to leave and go back to BWV for a swim, but not before I found the Photopass peeps again

Yep – we finally got some pool time at one of our resorts on a trip. We then swam a little too much and now we were going to be late for our O’Hana dinner. It seemed like this would become a theme as I think we were late for just about every dinner we had. We could have parked at the Poly and been closer to on time, but my bright idea was to park at the MK so we’d have a closer spot. I figured we’d be parking waaaaay in the back later since it was a late night at the MK and had two showings of Spectro. That’s why I wanted to park there now and just hop the monorail over to the Poly.

My planned backfired as we ended up parking waaaaayyy in the back anyway. With no trams in sight and since we were now running super late, we decided to hike it to the TTC. Dumb move as it was HOT and we were both getting crabby. I then got really annoyed because the front part of the lot was EMPTY! Why do the CM’s not let you drive up front when there is a ton of space, but force you to park a million miles away?!

Up next - MMMMMMMMMMMM Lapu Lapu is good!