No Sleep Till Disney! We can save money by flying at 6am! (Updates!! 12/7 - p.12)

[debknight]

Yay! So glad you're continuing the trip report.

 

[JenSop]

Yay! So glad you're continuing the trip report.

Yay! I still have a reader! I fear that I've lost some with the infrequent updates lately. I'm going to finish this everyone - I PROMISE!

(But seriously, I really am going to finish, then I'll move on to the TR for my girls-only trip!)

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Just started reading...love the name of your TR! I had trouble coming up with a good one The photos are making me really excited for upcoming surprise trip!!

 

[JenSop]

Just started reading...love the name of your TR! I had trouble coming up with a good one The photos are making me really excited for upcoming surprise trip!!

So glad to have you join my TR!!!

Coming up with a good name is always so hard!

Oooh! Upcoming surprise trip - sounds exciting!

 

[JenSop]

HI everyone,

To my Philly area readers - just got a call that our TV appearance for Thanksgiving morning has been postponed! I'm so bummed out! They now want to have the carolers closer to Christmas. So if you watch the news tomorrow morning, we won't be on it.

Hopefully the reschedule date will work with our availability. *sigh*



OH NO!!!!!! The Dis moderators moved my thread to completed trips and I can't update anything!!!!! Hopefully I can get this fixed!!!! Stay tuned!

 

[Sooze]

You are such an animal dork! I love it! My favorite quote is that you have to remember that he would rip your face off! They do look so cute and cuddly from far away, I must agree!!

You guys had some great mojo on your Animal Kingdom day! I'm going to stay tuned to see what's next....

Then I need to get started on my Thanksgiving trip report... after I put up the tree. Happy caroling season!!

 

[KGGJT]

thanks for sharing.

 

[JenSop]

I went to add something to my trip report (which is NOT done) and saw that it got moved to the completed TR board.

I know it's taking me awhile to get it finished, but I've been putting updates up when I can. I'm just REALLy super busy.

HELP!!!!!!

I still have two days of trip to report!

Here's the thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2538712

 

[OhMari]

I merged it back.
OhMari

 

[JenSop]

I merged it back.
OhMari

Thanks OhMari!!!!! I really am getting it finished, it's just that I have a Christmas caroling business, and this is obviously the busy season. I don't have alot of down time. (Although I have the flu, and am stuck at home for tomorrow, so I think I might squeeze in an update then.)


Thanks again!!!!!!

 

[JenSop]

An Update!!!

I just started an update and the DIS flipped out on me - erasing the post! Thankfully, I was just a little ways into it! Whew!

So, let me try this again....

After leaving Animal Kingdom and its sweat-inducing super heat, we headed back to our hotel for some swimming.

We didn't feel like being rushed for our scheduled ADR at Kona, so we called and canceled it.

It was our only evening free to do Downtown Disney, so after freshening up, it was off to DTD!

Here's my cute going-out outfit while we waited for the bus!

DTD was SO CROWDED!!!!! HOLY COW!!!!

I think we timed it so that our DTD evening was the same as all the brazilian tour groups.

We wanted to go to Earl of Sandwich, but there were two tour groups already in the line. It was insane.

So we walked around and stumbled on Guest Relations. We asked them what we should do about food. (I have to say, as much as I'm an expert in the parks, I've hardly eaten much at DTD, and was glad for some help!)

They told us to head over to Wolfgang Puck Express - that is was really good AND on the DDP!

Before heading there, we tried to do some shopping for gifts, but it was really hard with all the crowds.

We headed over to dinner.

Brian got the Rotisserie Turkey Club and I got the warm turkey melt. We both finished off with the creme brulee. Everything was great!

Continued............(trying to keep the posts small so that I don't lose them.)

 

[JenSop]

.....continued......

So after dinner, we decided to do some shopping! (With importance always being on our two adorable nieces!)

We decided on Princess wands and baby princesses. I had to stop letting Brian help with picking the dolls....his choice in cute little dolls is a little off. :-/

Brian also got a nice new golf shirt - on sale and with our AP discount! (I tell ya, we kept forgetting to ask about the AP discount!)

We also had to get my pic that I get on EVERY trip now - a pose with my favorite skeleton pirate!

And Brian did his best imitation of Buzz Light Year

We then decided to call it a day.

After getting back to the room, we took some pics of the Tshirts we had gotten on the trip so far. (Hoping these pics aren't a repeat, but if they are, they're a worthy repeat! )

Next up - our morning at DHS!!!!

 

[JenSop]

Day Seven!

Yeah - I'm keepin' 'em coming!!!! If anything, this flu will give me a chance to finish my TR!!! Yes! That is my goal - I'm going to finish today!

So, we're up to Thursday... my, where does the time go? Although with the time it's taken me to do this TR, it's like being in Disney for months and months.... oooh... being in Disney for months and months.....*drifting away into Disney euphoria...*

Okay - enough with the daydreaming - there's a TR to get finished!

I've said it before and I'll say it again.... for us, DHS is barely a half day park. Although, we spent a little extra time there on this day, as Brian wanted to really experience Star Tours several times before the refurb.

We got to DHS for Rope Drop - the ONLY way to be able to ride Toy Story Mania!

I had great success and was the second person in line for the TSM fastpass! We got a 9:40am return time! (What can I say, I'm an awesome FP runner!)

I have to say, I am always surprised by the insanity of this ride. Let me clarify - the insanity of getting to this ride and trying to get on it. You'd think people were handing out a thousand dollars per person or something the way you have to be to get to this ride! Seriously - the FP's are gone in less than 2 hours every day! Madness!

I met Brian over at Tower of Terror. They were pumping in some really cool mist to make the effect really creepy in line....

The area just inside the building...

We rode ToT twice. I LOVE THIS RIDE!!!!!

The line for Rockin' Roller Coaster was way too long, so we decided to skip it. We'll save it for next trip!

We headed over to Star Tours....Brian's sentimental pics of his beloved Star Tours....

We wanted to get in line and ride again, as the standby line had been short. Well, not anymore - one of the tour groups beat us to it and the line was quite long, so we got FP's for it to come back later.

What a perfect time to use our TSM FP's!!! I tell ya, I don't think I would ever wait standby for this ride. Although, at least there's more interesting things to look at in the line...(Not like Soarin'!)

After riding TSM, we headed over to the Star Tours store so Brian could find some Star Wars merch.

He was definitely successful. I thought this Tshirt was HILARIOUS!!!
The Storm Trooper eating a Mickey bar is freakin' priceless!

And he also got this ship model...

We used the FP's for Star Tours, then after that....



....we rode again.

(Can you tell that Brian is a huge Star Wars fan...)

And that was the end of our DHS day! We were out by lunch time!

Up next.....what the heck, let's head to DTD again!

 

[JenSop]

Day seven continued....

So we decided to go back to DTD. At this moment, I really can't remember why.....

Here are some pics around DHS on our way out....

You know I had to get my pic with the giant Coke!

But since part of the goal of this trip was to check out and get pictures of as much as I could to be able to use to help my clients (as a new travel agent), we decided to take the bus to Saratoga Springs and then walk over to DTD.

Waiting for the SSR bus was brutal. The heat was beyond what the human body should be able to endure.

It finally came in what felt like an hour later.

Here are some pics as we walked through SSR to DTD....

So today, we were lucky enough to finally get that meal at Earl of Sandwich!!!

Since we were paying out-of-pocket, we split the Caribbean Jerk Chicken sandwich. It was really good!

NOW I remember why we were heading back to DTD!!! The World of Disney store messed up our bill the night before and we were charged for three princess wands, not two. We had to go get it fixed...

We had no problems getting it taken care of and walked around DTD for a bit more....

*sigh* the old Adventurer's Club building....we only experienced it once, but it was a blast!

We walked out to the West Side section so Brian could check out the Build Your Own Car store. (Called Ride Makerz) And had to leave rather promptly, as he felt too tempted and was close to needing to go make and buy a model car....

We stopped at the Hoy Paloy store to get wind chime gifts for our Mom's.

But we also stopped back at the WoD store to get the multi-disc set of "Four Parks, One World." One needs their Disney fix when not at Disney, so we bought this to tide us over to our next trips...

After that, it was finally time to leave. And I sound like a broken record, but it was SO freakin' hot!!!!

We headed back to our hotel for some swimming and got ready for our AWESOME dinner at Kouzzina!!!!

 

[JenSop]

Day Seven continues...

So we were super excited about our dinner this night. We were going to be trying out the new Kouzzina restaurant at the Boardwalk. I have to say that I do watch Iron Chef every once in awhile, so I thought it would be really cool to eat at Cat Cora's restaurant - and also thought it would be cool to try some Greek food!

We took the monorail to Epcot...

Here we are for a quick Photopass pic on our way to the back of Epcot and International Gateway...(Brian's in his new shirt!)

So let me just say that Kouzzina was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started with the Pomegranate splash...

Then we split the calamari. I think this is by far the best calamari we have ever had. It was SO GOOD. They even fried up some lemon wedges in there too! And it was served with yogurt dipping sauces.

The layout of the restaurant was really neat. The kitchen is completely open, and we had a great view from our table.

For our entrees, Brian had the whole fish with greens, olives, lemon, onions, and peppers. They bring it to you whole, then debone it right in front of you!

I had the Kouzzina Trio, which was Greek lasagna, mini lamb burger, and cinnamon stewed chicken with orzo.

EVERYTHING WAS EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, this restaurant is now on our must-do list for next year!

For dessert, Brian had the Baklava. It's drier and not as sweet as the middle eastern equivalent.

I had the semolina custard in phylo dough with vanilla praline gelato...

And wow.... that's where my notes end! Yikes. I will harness the power of Disney to remember the rest of our trip!

Anyway, after dinner, we knew we wanted to catch Illuminations, so we rushed over to Epcot.

....continued....

 

[JenSop]

Day Seven continues!!!!

So we were rushing over to Epcot to see Illuminations, with uncomfortably full bellies.

BUT, we got some great sunset pics looking out across the water.

Looking back at the Boardwalk as we approach Epcot....

We got a quick photopass pic once we got inside the park...

Now, I present.... Illuminations!!!!!!! (Just imagine the awesome music in your head!)

Illuminations wasn't around when I was a kid. They still had a show over the water, but I have to be honest, I don't really remember it. I think it was called the Laser Light Show?

As an adult, I just totally love the Illuminations experience. Such an amazing combination of music, fireworks, and effects. And the music is the best of all the evening "firework shows" at Disney. What can I say, I just really love Illuminations!

We were tired, so we decided we would do a quick walk around World Showcase...















We were practicing our night photography skills....for awhile.....

And these are the fireworks from Magic Kingdom - seen all the way on the far end of World Showcase... Dude! Can you totally see the hidden Mickey in that firework?!?!

And then finally, our day was at an end. We walked to the monorail and headed back to BLT.

Up next..... our last day.

 

[JenSop]

Sadly, this is our last day of our trip.

But we were going to make it a good one!

After packing up, we checked out and left our things with bell services. We were able to do our luggage check-in for the flight right at the hotel. (And I had paid extra for our Early Bird boarding with Southwest, since I didn't want to have to worry about trying to do online check-in 24 hours before our flight.)

So we were all set to go to head over to Epcot!

The view looking down from the monorail...

I'm pretty sure we took things easy that last morning.

We had an ADR booked at Chefs de France, but showed up when they opened so we could hopefully get an earlier time.

We got a spot just after they opened! Yay!

Our server was great. And I feel just horrible that I didn't write down his name. He hadn't been in the States for too long and was telling us about his experiences so far - at Disney and in the US. He was having a great experience so far. We were glad, as it seemed that one of the nearby table was a little bit rude. (Be nice to the CM's everyone!!!)

I think Europeans are always amazed at the sheer size of the US. We talked about how we had driven last year and just how long that trip was. You could be all across Europe in the time it takes to get from PA to Disney!

Here we are at our table:

And here is the view from our table:

We both decided to go with the 3 course menu.


We started with French Onion soup. Delicious and yummy and good!

Then we had the Mac and Cheese. It was made with Gruyere cheese, which is one of my faves!

Then Remi came to visit us!

(Cover your eyes if you don't like any of the magic revealed.)



We watched as the server working the Remi cart visited the next table. And saw that Remi is controlled with buttons on the lid of his tray! It looked like a pretty complex contraption that the guy probably had to practice with alot.


Since I'm in theatre, it doesn't ruin things for me to see the backstage aspects of things. I know some people don't want to know about it, but I find it really fascinating. That's what theatre is all about - normal people creating special experiences! So I love hearing about what goes into the making of the magic!


Right outside our window, we got a great view of the acrobatic show! These guys are great! (And make a special note to remember them for when I do my next TR from the Girls' Only Trip! )

Dessert was the cream puffs with ice cream. Yum!

But after lunch, it was time to leave Epcot. Bye Epcot! But we headed around the long way through the rest of World Showcase. We even got some pics!

....Continued....

 

[JenSop]

Quick extra post!!!!

If you're interested - watch the Rachael Ray Show this Friday (Dec. 10th)!!!! I was on with my caroling group for a "Battle of the Carolers." We taped the episode last week and it airs this coming Friday!

In the PHilly area, it's on channel 6 at 10am!

We're Olde Towne Carolers and have the traditional Victorian costumes! (I'm the short blonde!)

I'm so excited!!!!

 

[JenSop]

The Conclusion!!!!!!!!!!

So after our last wonderful Epcot moments, it was off to the Polynesian. Why? Well, we just really like it there. We've always said that if they ever add DVC there, we'll figure out a way to do an add-on!

Pretty pics from around the Poly...

We spent some good quality time around the Poly, and walked around the gift shop and grounds.


Then we were off to some final moments in the Magic Kingdom....

We rode Pirates (of course!)

And we caught some of the show across from Pirates...

We did a few other rides...

But....

After awhile, the heat was again too much to bear. We actually went into Hall of Presidents to escape the heat. Not to diss HoP. I just hadn't been in it since I was a kid. It was always a must-do for my Pop-Pop, but I remembered not really liking it. (Sorry, but it's not really on the top of the list for the youngun's!)

It was great to get out of the heat and I quite liked the show, now that I'm (mostly) all grown-up.


We headed to Columbia Harbour House for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the hotel to pick up Magical Express.

Columbia Harbour House is really the hidden gem of Magic Kingdom. I've never seen it crowded, and the second floor is always deserted! We split the Lighthouse Sandwich!

And despite being full, we HAD to get a final Dole Whip float - it was a necessity!

We got some Photopass pics on the way out....

....and that was the end.

We headed back to BLT and freshened up. We picked up our ME back to the airport and it was all about dreaming of the next trip from that moment on....


Thanks to everyone for reading my report!!! I hope you'll join my next report - I'll probably get it started after the holidays. It'll be a TR about my Girls-Only Trip in October for Food & Wine and MNSSHP! Don't miss it!

 

[jpmandan]

We love your trip report, and pictures. That DOLE WHIP you could have left that picture out. NOW I WANT ONE! LOL! Rachael Ray, I love her. (yes my wife knows this) Is she as nice as she seams to be? We go back May 29th, with lots of family and friends. I hope to take lots of pictures and write a trip report too. Thanks for this trip report. We are ready to go back.