Montana Invades the World! Oct 12-22 (**PICTURES NOW**)

[Montana Disney Fan]

Day 7 : Epcot (oh ya, World Showcase day. No Rides!!!)

No rides is a bit extreme. With two little ones, there’s always rides! We arrived as the rope dropped and fought (literally) our way to Test Track for the boy and rode immediately. After that we got our fast passes for Soarin’ then headed to Akershus for the 10 a.m. Princess character meal.

The Character Meal was awesome. We sat right away and were served a giant platter of eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls, juice etc. The food was really good. I was totally shocked. The potatoes were REALLY good! The princesses come out one at a time and hit every table in a logical order. We were seated by the door they come out of so they saw my daughter first. She loved it. The service was good, the princesses all looked like the should and the food was surpisingly good. A solid 5 star experience.

The Akershus Character Meal was quick. We were in and out in 40 minutes. Next we went and rode Soarin’ again which we now call the “Family Favorite”. This time we were in row two and could smell the smells they pumped in. We didn’t smell them the first time. Very cool.

Now is when it gets boring. Mom and Dad come during this time of year for the food and wine festival so that’s what we did. We ate and sipped wine all the way around. It was relaxing and very fun. This is what vacation is all about. I could go on and on about the food and wine but I won’t. It was all very good. For those that haven’t seen them, Off Kilter (the band) at the Canadian Pavilion is really fun. I highly recommend it.

We were back in the room by 3 p.m. and Loud Girl and Dad hit the OKW pool area (we didn’t scare her about being burned by the sun this time). She loved it. They have a new slide there for those that didn’t know and it’s very popular. My daughter can’t swim yet so she couldn’t ride it. We floated around then she played in the sand and on the equipment. We loved it. It was a perfect blue sky day.

As we were leaving we talked to a family that was heading home. I felt so sad for them. We never want to leave!

For dinner we drove back to Giordano’s on 192 and had another GREAT pizza. We stopped by the Marketplace Grocery that’s right next to it and loaded up on supplies then went home and called it a day.

Summary

Akershus Character Breakfast – AWESOME! Great food, service and perfect princess characters. 5 Stars.

Epcot Food & Festival – Always the best. This is why we’re here. 5 Stars.

Off Kilter – Anyone whose never seen this band perform at Canada in Epcot needs to. 5 Stars!

OKW Pool – 3 Stars. The BW has a lot better pool area. OKW was just “ok”. The sand area is fun for kids though.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

EVEN MORE PICTURES ON PAGE 5

The castle dressed up for those that haven’t seen it.

On the boat outside of the Contemporary and in front of MK.

Cal Grill. Great wine, great food, great service, great view, great wife!

Waiting to be called for the princess breakfast outside of Akershus in Norway.

Inside of the Rock n Roll Beach Club. Wife sez, “This band blows!”

My daughter with one of the princesses. Which one is this again?

The happiest bus in the whole world.

For some reason, we all just love the train in Germany. Does anyone know why it’s there? I’ll tell you: Walt loved trains and had a huge train set built in his yard and a lot of people used to come by and look at it which is one of reasons he came up with the idea for Disneyland.

Mom and Dad are driving me crazy with this Food and Wine thing. Let’s go on some rides!

How many times have you guys been to this spot to only find TWO other people anywhere you look? Answer: NEVER! AK was empty this day.


MORE PICTURES ON PAGE 5

 

[goodferry]

Thanks for the report, it's great! The room at the Wyndham Palms looks awesome. Looking forward to reading more, and feel free to bore us with the food and wine details, we are living vicariously here.

 

[summersfam4]

I saw your comment on "The Battle for My Wallet III" , please, please don't stop posting, I'm loving your reports :, I feel like I am there again! Your kids are adorable, thanks for posting pics! Can't wait to hear more!

Kelly

 

[fizz13]

the photos are great and you make a very handsome couple I agree, that princess breakfast is great, we had to have another skillet as we kept fighting over the food. Keep up the reports,

Claire xx

 

[mommykds]

Thanks for posting..your kids are adorable & I love the comment about your "great wife"...Awesome!

 

[Danadisney]

Awesome report and awesome pictures!

 

[Cinerama]

I love "live" reports! Keep posting...I'll be waiting. Love the pics too...the kids are cutie pies.

 

[Credit Man]

Thanks again for taking the time to post these.

 

[megan4777]

You are hysterical and write awesome reports!! Keep them coming!!

 

[Demon Llama]

Awesome trip report - so funny too, like those people that smell, and then re-encountering those people that smell, hahaha!

 

[Ellester]

Great report! My dd4 also loves to put her hands on her head during pictures! What's up with that? Hoping Wilma decides to blow herself out before she gets any closer!

 

[MazdaUK]

Another great report! Chance of me persuading DH and 2 boys that the princess breakfast is worht doing for the fantastic food - virtually nil (nless you can promise that Jasmine will come round with her belly out!). Maybe if I don't say its a character meal and just act really surprised....

yes I know I still haven't persuaded DH we can go back before 2015, but I'm working at it

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Another great report! Chance of me persuading DH and 2 boys that the princess breakfast is worht doing for the fantastic food - virtually nil (nless you can promise that Jasmine will come round with her belly out!). Maybe if I don't say its a character meal and just act really surprised....

yes I know I still haven't persuaded DH we can go back before 2015, but I'm working at it

LOL! Ya, my son didn't care at ALL about the princess but found the food to be really good so he just pigged out.

Jasmine came out and was perfect. We also had Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and an unknown princess that we couldn't figure out. Maybe one called in sick so they just grabbed one of the diners who was pretty to stand in?

 

[MazdaUK]

an unknown princess

Do you have a photo? What was she wearing? I'm wracking my brains now to try to work out who she might be!!! It wasn't the Blue Fairy or someone like that was it?

 

[goodferry]

It wasn't Ariel was it? Now I am curious. I have heard of them sticking Wendy, Alice and Mary Poppins in there and calling them Princesses, maybe that's who it was.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

I'll work up a picture and post it tonight then you guys can tell me. We have to get ready for Flying Fish here soon.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

I present to you, the 'unknown princess' !!!

See, I told you it was just some random park visitor who they handed a fifty to.

 

[IamCourtney]

That's Belle not in her ball gown, or whatever that big yellow thing is. I think.

I like your reports, I may or may not be a cast member that is entertained on lunch hours by reading these reports! People think I'm weird when I try to hide the giggles.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

Day 8 : AK & MGM (Our first Park Hop)

We are now a well oiled touring machine as we arrive at AK for the rope drop and beeline it for Kali. We love that darn thing plus when you get there early they let you stay on it as long as there is no line. We rode twice continuously and got soaked. I had the hood down on my poncho trying to be “cool” and paid the price. Stupid me.

Kali opens ½ hour after the rest of the park so we had to wait which was NO PROBLEM at all. Why? Because they had let some monkey’s loose (about 6 or 7) and they were running all around the Kali Ride area. We just leaned up against the fence and watched them. There was a mom and baby orangutan (I think, I’m no monkey expert) and they were making all kinds of noises and swinging around. If you’ve never seen them I recommend it. It was more fun than the ride itself. Next time you go to Kali, as you’re entering the ride look up and to your right and you’ll see the ropes leading from a huge pole-like platform over to the temple. This is the area the two monkeys were playing in. I’ve got a picture of the area I’ll post later.

While watching the monkeys we encountered the crabbiest Disney employee in all the world. He was the “gatekeeper” for the Kali ride and was in charge of the rope. He never smiled, and was very short with guests who had questions. I have a rule for my 70 employees back home: IF YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND DON’T WANT TO GO TO WORK THEN DO US ALL A FAVOR AND STAY HOME! Stay home three days in a row and never come back. That’s just me. I’m a hard-a%$.

After Kali we did the favorites: Dinosaur, Triceratops Spin, and Primeval Whirl before letting the kids loose at the Dig site. I love just kickin’ back and watching them slide and play. I think they like the time away from us with their “limited freedom” they must feel not having us hovering over them. We ate at Flame Tree again then left for MGM.

MGM was great! Nobody was there and we ALL rode Tower of Terror!!. My daughter (the three year old) thought it was “cool” and my son enjoyed the drops as well. That little girl of ours is totally fearless. Nothing has frightened her at all. If she were the worlds first 48” 3 year old I’d take her on Rock N Rollercoaster. The boy is fearless also but he should be since he’s my son We fast passed RNR next then rode Star Tours, Voyage and then back to RNR were the fast passes turned out to be useless as there was absolutely no line and we walked right on twice in a row. We also purchased a picture of us.

Speaking of the Ride Photos, I’d like to comment that there HAS to be a better way. It’s so painfully slow it’s maddening. We purchased the photo at ToT and RNR and both times we waited for 20 minutes just to get up to the person you place your order with. When your son is handicapped and ready for the next ride and you can’t explain to him what’s going on so he starts to cry a 20 minute wait seems like forever. Enough venting, I just wish it was faster. I DO like having the pictures delivered to the resort as they always get ruined when you have to lug them around with you the rest of the day.

My son, who has done very well so far on this trip, started to lose it today in MGM. We are not sure if we are having “disability” problems or “attitude” problems. It’s really tough to tell with him. At RNR he was crying on the line and then afterward while we waited for the picture. During the ride and pre-show he was fine, happy and dancing around. You can’t just ask him what’s wrong. He either doesn’t understand or can’t explain the answer. Nobody knows for sure. Apparently, all doctors are idiots when it comes to this type of diagnosis so we’ve never really figured out EXACTLY what is going on with him (sorry doctors, just venting). We get very frustrated sometimes.

Anyway, we got him back to our home (OKW room) and he was fine. We then decided to go to DD for dinner and he started to “bug” out again. We decided to go to Rainforest Café and see how the line was. I think the entire Magic Kingdom emptied out tonight and all decided to go to the Rainforest. It was a mob scene. Crying children, sleeping babies, drunken parents, and pandemonium. I walked into the bar area and noted four empty bar stools lined up at the bar. Could I really be THIS lucky? I walked up and asked the bartender if we needed ressies to sit here and she said “no”. I had another couple hold them then flagged down the family.

The food was great; the service was also very good. It was very noisy and hard for me to hear my wife. My son basically cried the whole time. We got thru the meal, and went straight back to the room. We were tired and a little cranky and then we had trouble finding the car.

The parking area at DD is a nightmare. We simply could not find our way out. I generally have no problems getting around in a car but we were having the toughest time finding the exit. We finally got out, turned up the Disney Music CD, and headed to our “Home”.

We put the boy in bed hoping that maybe the little guy is just tired and will be better in the morning. He’s sleeping right now. He’s been getting up at 5:30 a.m. every morning and he can’t go back to sleep. He just can’t sit still long enough to be able to fall back asleep. It’s crazy.

Anyway, we are a little frustrated but will deal with it. Tomorrow is MK again and we hope to add a few rides we missed last time. I also want to do Philharmonic again. It was so good the first time we did it.

We are keeping a close eye on Wilma as it moves into the coast and towards Florida. It looks like we’ll be LONG GONE by the time she makes landfall. Our plane leaves at 8:25 a.m. on Saturday (22nd) morning. We don’t want to leave but with that monster headed in our direction it sure makes it easier.

Summary

Rainforest Café – The food was great and the service was good also. We lucked out and got a spot at the bar and avoided the 90 minute wait. The kids menu is very good and the adult menu is huge. The only down point is it’s VERY loud. It’s like an attraction with food. Enjoy it. Don’t fight it. 4 Stars.

Hurricane Wilma – Everyone is talking about it wherever you go. The locals and cast members are SICK of hurricanes. The talk around town is this is the trend to expect for the next 5 to 10 years. I feel bad for these people. We leave early Saturday morning and RIGHT NOW that looks like it’s going to be safe but you never know. Zero Stars for massive hurricane.

Jonnie Walker Black Label – 5 Stars. Time to crack the lid and pour some down.

For some reason, I really like this dancing banana. I have issues.