Nifty Fifty: The Great return of the Sauciers! - April 2022 TR

[luvpoohandcompany]

Used to be the mini golf was always a walk on but we had the same problem as you and ended up not doing it last trip. It’s definitely a bit of a hike over there only to be disappointed. Hope you get your ride on the Surrey bikes after dinner though I imagine I’d be too full to even try riding one then

 

[amazingact21]

I don't think I've replied recently, but I've been reading and following along!

I feel like parents always have one kid who doesn't mind waking up early. That's Landon for me. There was never a better day than when he became old enough to go downstairs and make his own breakfast. I swear he's awake for hours before I am on the weekends.


Sounds like plans weren't going as smoothly as hoped on your down day. An hour wait for mini golf is pretty long, I don't blame you for going back to swim. I wonder why Surrey bikes don't open until 3. Seems foolish to not allow people to ride until the hottest part of the day. I guess maybe they think the walkways will be busier in the mornings, with guests going to the parks?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Day Seven: Rest Day Evening Edition!

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Captain Gwen is here to dock the boat! Beware... she never got her boating liscense.

We headed to Disney Springs around 4:40 and made it to Disney Springs around 4:50! We must have hopped on a bus almost immediately!
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Morgan wanted to get more Gideon Cookies! I had warned her that the wait might be longer than we were planning on being at Disney Springs but said we would try.

So, we went straight to Gideon to get on list again. But it was just a stand by line! And a short one at that! It took maybe 10 minutes to get inside.

Got in line at 4:57 and was inside at 5:12. We talked with a nice lady about the cookies in line while we waited, as we were clearly experts being we had purchased cookies once before.
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Got 3 Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies - This was def Morgan's favorite.
1 Pistachio Toffee Cookie - Andy and I liked this one the best. It was just a little different than the rest.
1 Triple Chocolate Cookie
1 Peanut Butter Frosting
1 Brownie frosting
This batch we ended up bringing 4 of the cookies home with us.

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Morgan was very happy to have refilled our cookie stash!

While the girls and I waited in line, Andy went and got drinks from the Homecoming bar. Moonshine Mash and iced Tea moonshine.
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Iced Tea Moonshine is Andy’s favorite and the Moonshine Mash is my favorite. Delish!

After we finished at Gideon's we headed to the world of Disney after. I had wanted to get a spirit jersey but didn’t see the one I wanted. boo.

After that it was time for dinner! We headed over to Morimoto Asia around 5:50, for a 6:00 dinner reservation.

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We were sat at a table downstairs.

We ordered some drinks first.
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I ordered the Plum Crazy
Iichiko shochu, plum wine, lavender, lime, cranberry topped off with prosecco.
This was very good. I love Champagne and this was nice and light. And different, which is waht I was going for.

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Morgan and Gwen both got Bobba, Kiwi for Gwen and Strawberry for Morgan. They were happy because they were popping boba. Only Morgan likes the tappioca ball that come with a more juice based drink instead of the milk tea version.

Andy went with diet coke.
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Don't let his face fool you, he was fine with his diet coke. He had just had his beloved ice tea moonshine.

We started with an order of the Crispy Popcorn Shrimp Tempura
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signature tempura shrimp, spicy gochujang aioli
These were REALLY good. Everyone really liked them (Even Gwen!). It wasn’t too spicy at all. But had a good taste.
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Andy and I split Morimoto Spare Ribs
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Half-Rack, 6-rib
pork ribs, cilantro, hoisin sweet chili glaze
Always soooo good!!!! Morgan tried a bite of one and said they were good. I see a full rack in our future next time we are there. I highly recommend these, they aren't like what you would think of a rib. These are a whole different food group, sweet and just a tad spicy and SUPER crunchy.

We also got the Morimoto Gomoku Fried Rice
duck, chicken, pork, shrimp, vegetables, spicy house sambal sauce
I didn't take a picture of it, but it was a really nice fried rice and it was a perfect balance to the heavy ribs.

Half the reason I wanted to come here was for the ribs, but also the girls had become Ramen "conoseurs" and I wanted them to try real ramen, or at least good ramen.

Morgan went with the
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Tonkotsu Ramen
rich pork bone broth, wheat noodles, roasted pork, woodear mushroom, pickled ginger, scallion and soy marinated egg
The bowl for this was HUGE!
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Morgan really enjoyed it.

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Gwen went with the kids Ramen.
Mini Ramen
soy broth, egg noodles, and sesame with add pork
She added pork and promptly gave it to Morgan. Hers had a def different taste than Morgan’s. Gwen’s was more chicken ramen taste, which is what Gwen wanted. Both were very happy.

The service was great and the food was great. This has become one of our favorite places to eat now. And honestly wasn't that bad of a tab for us! $150 for the 4 of us eat isn't too bad.

Gwen had requested one more stop before we left Disney Springs, so after dinner, we stopped to get Sprinkles cupcakes from ATM.
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Gwen was very excited about her cupcake! We had never had Sprinkles before.

I picked the Lemon Meringue Cupcake, Gwen went with the banana Cupcake and Morgan went with the dark Chocolate Cupcake.
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Pretty sure there is just a CM on the other side putting the cupcakes in boxes but still alot of fun.

Headed to buses with our giant bag full of desserts (Gideons AND Sprinkles cupcakes) and headed back to the room to drop off stuff.
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Everyone went to the bathroom and we headed out to go do Surrey bike.

It was about 8:00 now, so not too late.
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We walked over and filled out the paperwork. You have to sign a waiver basically saying if you run someone over it's your fault and they are not liable. Which made Andy SUPER nervous! We beat one other family to sign up and I was glad was it took a little while to fill out the waver.

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It was a beautiful night but also, lots of folks out on the boardwalk.

The lady gave us a basic instructions of how it worked. Said where not to go but was very vague about it. She said don’t go there, and pointed randomly, when we asked where, she said yeah, don’t go there…

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Gwen was ready!

We finally got our Surry Bike and headed out!
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The boardwalk was very busy. There was a performer and had gotten a big crowd. It was very difficult to get moving. There may or may not of been a bit of argueing on how to get the crowd to move.

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We had a "bell" to use as well, but it wasn't very loud and it was on Andy's side and de didn't really want to use it for some reason. So he was just yelling at tired people walking back to there rooms. Sign....

There was also a party happening outside our room at the Yacht Club, which was blocking the boardwalk. So, we had to go on the sidewalk which was a bit tricky. You had to wait for anyone with a stroller to go first. It wasn't too bad, but just made the whole thing stressful.

We did have fun. We ended up doing 2 laps around the water there. The second lap we passed a family that had stopped at a bathroom at Yacht Club pool bathrooms. But then came up behind us at the hill and raced us up. They beat us but they had 2 small kids. But it was a fun little moment.

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My blurry photo as we were going around.

We did a few donuts around the planter right before you head onto the board walk. (by the dance hall) It was nice an empty there and nice to pendal around with no real worries of hitting anyone.

It was nice doing the bikes at night, as it was nice and cool but a lot more stressful with the amount of people out on the boardwalk. I DON"T recommend doing at night! I would def say to do it during the day.

We returned out bike and started to walked back to the room. The girls ran ahead for Gwen to use bathroom. Andy and I just walked and stopped and watched fireworks on a bench outside of our room.

There was only 5 minutes left but it was a nice place to just sit and watch.

We came in once the fireworks were done to find the girls already in PJs and not so patiently waiting for us to eat the cupcakes.

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These cupcakes ended up being REALLY good! They weren't the typical Disney giant cupcake. They were all very flavorful. Gwen's tasted like banana and I loved the Lemon Merange cupcake.

We ate our cupcakes and went to bed. The day wasn't exactly how we wanted it to be but it was still good. Even with the mile walk in the morning, we did get to rest and dinner was a big hit.

We had a BIG day tomorrow!

Up next Andy's 50th Birthday Day!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Danielle loves the school bread. If you're looking for a good pick me up drink with Alcohol here I suggest the Frozen Viking Coffee. Danielle got us to try it in 2021 and we all loved it.

OH! I will have to try that one day!

I've had this when it's fresh and really good and when it was not fresh so not good. We usually enjoy the food in Germany at the festivals.

We must have gotten lucky. i can see how if one has been sitting awhile it could be hard.

I've been there too.

We all have, and if you say you haven't they are lying. Kids just get tired in Disney

Love Gwen's food reviews

Thanks. She is always up for a good review. or as the kids say a hot take.

Great reviews from Gwen. The passport is a neat idea for kids to record their snacks and thoughts.

Thanks. The girls really liked doing it and really kept them interested in the quest.

What a great way to record what you eat and drink. This is going to be priceless for her someday.

I have to find Morgan's. I think hers is in the Disney box in the basement. But def a good momento.

Ugh, I'm so sorry to hear that, but glad that she's doing better. How are things now?

She is stable, but has a long recovery. And I am not 100% sure what her future will be like. But it won't look like what it was before. How are you feeling?

Your snacking around the world looks like tons of fun- I'm jealous! My girls are still at that age where it's all go-go-go for rides or characters, not slowly exploring WS.

Give your girls another year or two. I think they will like it eventually. (to a point of course)

i am living for Gwen's review! Such a creative idea for the kids to do!

Thanks. The girls really liked it. And it was def a great way for them to keep up with the idea and not get bored.

ou did a lot of walking on your rest day. Sorry things didn't work out in your favor. Hoping your night goes well.

It wasn't that bad, I just wished we hadn't walked over there, I really wanted us to be rested for the second half of the trip. And we were. Dinner was excelletn.

Used to be the mini golf was always a walk on but we had the same problem as you and ended up not doing it last trip.

Ugh. I am afraid to try it again. I think they were really staggering the groups, which is nice. As there didn't seem to be that many people.

Hope you get your ride on the Surrey bikes after dinner though I imagine I’d be too full to even try riding one then

Gwen REALLY wanted to do the bikes, so we didn't have too much of a choice. But our dinner wasn't too heavy, so it worked out in that sense.

I feel like parents always have one kid who doesn't mind waking up early. That's Landon for me. There was never a better day than when he became old enough to go downstairs and make his own breakfast. I swear he's awake for hours before I am on the weekends

Ugh! Morgan literally just told me she woke up at 4:00 AM this morning for school. She is crazy! It is amazing once they can fully entertain themselves in the morning and you don't have to get up with them.

Sounds like plans weren't going as smoothly as hoped on your down day.

they def didn't go exactly how we wanted. But the day wasn't terrible... The walk wasn't that bad, I just wished we hadn't done the walk.

I wonder why Surrey bikes don't open until 3. Seems foolish to not allow people to ride until the hottest part of the day. I guess maybe they think the walkways will be busier in the mornings, with guests going to the parks?

It was the opposite! It was empty on the boardwalk at that part of the day. When we came back at night, it was soooo much busier. But my guess is, not a lot of people are doing it in the morning? So it isn't worth being open then? it was def unfortant. Even with the heat, I would def recommend going at 3:00 and not 8:00 PM.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Grogu always will deserve a spot on the bed lolololol

I need to remember to get the homecomin refillable cups for my next trip! (I know you didn’t get them but it’s a nice reminder lol)!

The surrey bikes are so fun but stressful! At least at POR they were Boardwalk probably not so much

 

[NJlauren]

We did the surrey bike once, but my kids were little, my 5 year old at the time wanted to do it so bad. It was me and DH my dad and a 5 year old and 14 month old. It was so hard, my dad was yelling at everyone it looks fun but it sucks don’t do it! We were cracking up!

Also sprinkles holds a special place in my heart, when I was prego with my first they opened a location in my office building and it was buy one get one for like a month, people would be like want to split it, I was like hard pass I’m eating both!! And I love frosting and at the real locations you can buy a shot of frosting, not sure if that’s an option ay the ATMs.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I need to remember to get the homecomin refillable cups for my next trip! (I know you didn’t get them but it’s a nice reminder lol)!

Andy was trying "to be good" on this trip. I highly recommend getting the refillable squeeze bottle.

We did the surrey bike once, but my kids were little, my 5 year old at the time wanted to do it so bad. It was me and DH my dad and a 5 year old and 14 month old. It was so hard, my dad was yelling at everyone it looks fun but it sucks don’t do it! We were cracking up!

I agree with your dad's sentiment!

 

[SEAGULL59]

While the girls and I waited in line, Andy went and got drinks from the Homecoming bar. Moonshine Mash and iced Tea moonshine.

I need to try Homecoming on my next trip! Those drinks sound delicious. I would love to be sitting in Disney Springs today with a nice drink in my hand. I am over the winter already and we haven't even had much snow yet.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I need to try Homecoming on my next trip! Those drinks sound delicious. I would love to be sitting in Disney Springs today with a nice drink in my hand. I am over the winter already and we haven't even had much snow yet.

Highly recommend the Moonshine Mash. It is very refreshing and comes with some fresh watermelon in it. So, as long as you like Watermelon it is delish!!! There is also a blueberry one that I love as well.

Andy loves the Iced Tea Moonshine and it's basically a Long island Ice Tea but with moonshine instead. It's very smooth!

 

[Joy1127]

The little food diary was so fun! Was that something you made for the girls? I give Gwen a lot of credit for sticking with reviewing everything! I probably would have given up after one stop! lol

 

[ambula603]

I always have my girls write a little summary of the day when we do our big National Park trips - then I scan those entries in and add them to our photo book! Over the years it has been so fun to see their spelling and grammar improve! So I LOVE the food diaries!

We did a surrey bike at Saratoga Springs once. Scarlett's feet couldn't reach the pedals and so DH and I had to really push hard. It was a not-so-fun then but laugh about it now kind of memory!

Finally, my mouth is WATERING at all these foods. Seriously, I need a cupcake or a Gideon cookie or some good Ramen in my life now!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

How are you feeling?

I'm as good as I could hope. Chemo side effects have all been relatively minor annoyances compared to what it could be.

I am shocked they let the surries run so late on the boardwalk. I saw one trying to get through with street performers out and it was no small feat. Maybe it's just because of what I'm used to in OCNJ, but that feels like a morning activity anyway.

 

[vamassey1]

I love Gideon's. I'm the only one willing to do the wait.

Dinner sounds so good. It was only my list for next trip but something else has won out. Maybe next time.

Loved the Sprinkle cupcakes we got back in 2018. I really need to go back.

The bike rides sounds fun and scary. I think my legs could not do that anymore.

Nice ending to your rest day night.

 

[Stasieki]

Checking in. How is life treating you all?

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hi Everyone.

Sorry for going dark here. Life got rough... My father was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in early January. And it was pretty far along and just spread too fast. January was still finding out what was going on but February ended up being a rollercoaster of ups and downs. And unfortunately, he passed away last week. It was a long month trying to help take care of him and see my mother who has been in a nursing home rehab facilty. So, to say the least, I just wasn't feeling up to writing a trip report.

I would sit down to try and write and it just didn't feel right.

BUT I do have some good news. We have had a trip to California planned for awhile now. When my father took a turn fo the worse, we cancelled everything. But then once he passed and we knew when the memorial would be and all of that, we were able to rebook a modified trip! And it is going to be well needed.

So, we are headed to Disneyland tomorrow!!! I am so excited to have something fun to look forward to. Our little family needs some r and r for sure! I promise to come back to this trip report once we return! As we have some fun days still to talk about! And I am sure I will want to do a trip report about this trip as well.

So, if you are still hear, Thank You!!! And I will be back!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Sincerest condolences to you and all the family. I’m so sorry for your loss
Enjoy some well deserved family time and sure we will be here when you’re in the mood for Dis time. Take care of yourselves

 

[smilie]

I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your father. You most definitely deserve some r and r. I hope you all are able to do just that.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

So sorry for your loss

 

[erinch]

So sorry for such trauma for your family. I. Hope DL is filled with magic, sweetness, and joy. And churros.

 

[Paulaparm]

I am so sorry to hear of your father's passing. Hugs to all of you.