Now is the Best Time! Our 2024 Florida Road Trip (complete)-RL update!

[mickey916]

My family loves the polite pig!!! I’ve had that slider trio before… very good the Mac and cheese is also good there. Our favorite side is the Brussel sprouts. The chili looks delicious haven’t seen it before either.
I ate at wine bar George once with a friend for brunch. It was ok. Not somewhere I would go again.
Hope you other DS makes it to SD. Does your other DS live near there?

We love the brussel sprouts too but wanted to try new things. Fortunately, both of our sons still live in MA. They each have their own apartments about an hour away from us. They are 30 minutes away from each other which is nice as they get together a lot. I am very grateful they get along well and still live relatively close to us.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We love the brussel sprouts too but wanted to try new things. Fortunately, both of our sons still live in MA. They each have their own apartments about an hour away from us. They are 30 minutes away from each other which is nice as they get together a lot. I am very grateful they get along well and still live relatively close to us.

That’s great that your sons still live close. I hope my boys get along better than they are now. My oldest lives in RI about 40 min away. We live very close to RI border.
My youngest still lives at home trying to figure out his life.

 

[mickey916]

4/27 Starting Our Day at Hollywood Studios​

We made the mistake of rope dropping Hollywood Studios as off-site guests and arrived at 8:15 for 9:00 opening. The line wasn’t too bad at that point but as we got closer to 9:00 the crowds just kept growing and everyone kept pushing together. At only 5’3” tall, I was getting claustrophobic and really hot being squished in among the masses. I told DH I will never do rope drop at DHS again unless we are onsite and have Early Entry. Rope Drop is so much better in the other parks where they let you into the park in a “holding area” first.

At 9:00 they finally let people through the tapstiles and we headed to Runaway Railroad to search for some more Hidden Mickeys.

There are actually quite a few in this queue and on the attraction.

We then headed to Tower of Terror, where I spotted a couple more.

I rode ToT by myself as DH isn’t crazy about the drop. It ended up being the worst ride ever. There was a group in the last row that included a couple adult women (at least in their thirties) who thought it would be hilarious to start a piercingly high scream as soon as the doors closed. They did it the entire ride and it actually hurt my ears. I really don’t understand people who lack any courtesy whatsoever for other people and think it’s funny. I was definitely not amused.

After the ride we stopped by to take another classic Hidden Mickey picture at the Dockside Diner.

We hadn’t been to Beauty & the Beast since 2010 so we decided to see the show. The cast did a great job. We really enjoyed the performance.

After the show it was time for us to try another new to us restaurant, ABC Commissary. We ordered two entrees to share.

First we shared the Mediterranean Salad with Chicken.

This salad was phenomenal! The chicken was perfectly cooked, the vegetables fresh, the hummus delicious and the grilled pita was also very tasty. It even had real kalamata olives and plentiful feta. It was hard to believe this was a quick service salad in a theme park. It was the best salad we had our entire trip.

We also shared the Pork Carnitas Tacos.

These tacos were also really good but the salad earned top honors. This was our first time eating at ABC Commissary but it definitely will not be the last.

For dessert we opted to cross another item off our bucket list, the Carrot Cake Cookie from Trolley Car Cafe (now called the Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie).

Wow, was this fantastic! It was definitely more of a whoopie pie than a cookie but it was so good! The carrot cake was moist and the buttercream was creamy and just the right amount of sweetness. This has been added to our “must-get” list from HS. DH is already bemoaning the fact that it probably won’t be offered if we go in December since it’s usually replaced with the red velvet whoopie pie at that time of the year.

After our dessert, we had accomplished everything we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios so we took a ride on the skyliner and spent the afternoon resort hopping and walking around the boardwalk as we waited for our dinner reservation.

Up next..trying another new restaurant for dinner, did it complete a perfect food day?

 

[disneyAndi14]

I also dislike RD at HS, I am only 5’1” and I have vowed to either get there super early for the resort guest RD or we come in around 10am with our LL.
I had a similar experience with teen girls doing a high pitched screaming through the entire HM ride. I was so upset by the end of the ride. Such total disregard to other guests and the attraction. The people in front of us complained to the CM and I don’t blame them!
I have heard good things about the new menu at ABC, the salad looks really good! I also love the carrot cake cookie. It is one of my favorite treats!

 

[mickey916]

I also dislike RD at HS, I am only 5’1” and I have vowed to either get there super early for the resort guest RD or we come in around 10am with our LL.
I had a similar experience with teen girls doing a high pitched screaming through the entire HM ride. I was so upset by the end of the ride. Such total disregard to other guests and the attraction. The people in front of us complained to the CM and I don’t blame them!
I have heard good things about the new menu at ABC, the salad looks really good! I also love the carrot cake cookie. It is one of my favorite treats!

That's a great RD plan for HS. I think that's what we'll do from now on. On Tot, I actually commented to the CM when I got off "that's the most obnoxious group of people I've ever ridden with." The CM just kinda shrugged. I wasn't really looking to have him do anything about it but I was so annoyed after waiting 45 minutes in line to have that experience. You definitely should try that salad at ABC!

 

[mickey916]

4/27 Dinner at Il Mulino​

With our bonus days on this trip, we decided to try as many “new to us” restaurants as possible. So, we finally booked an ADR at a restaurant I’ve been dying to try, Il Mulino at the Swan Resort. After exploring along the Skyliner, we made our way to check in at Il Mulino and were seated promptly.

Our meal began with the complimentary bread service, focaccia with eggplant caponata and sliced salami.

This was excellent! The bread was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. The eggplant caponata had terrific flavor and the salami added a nice contrast.

For our entrees, we wanted to try the chicken parmesan (Pollo Parmigiana) but we noticed it didn’t come with pasta. So, we decided to order the Pollo Parmigiana entree and the Penne Rigate (original il mulino marinara sauce topped with ricotta cheese) for our other entree and share them.

When we placed our order we informed the server that we would be sharing both. He offered to split them for us.

Here are our two plates of the chicken parm:

This was an enormous portion! The chicken was perfectly prepared and there was a lot of melted cheese. We love Tony’s chicken parm but this one was definitely a more elevated version.

Here are our two halves of Penne Rigate.

This pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. The marinara sauce tasted fresh and had great flavor. It was a very simple dish but a wonderful accompaniment to our chicken parmesan.

We opted not to get dessert. Our server offered us complimentary Limoncello but we didn’t partake, although we appreciated the gesture.

We truly enjoyed our meal at Il Mulino, rounding out our day of excellent food choices. The food was fresh and flavorful and service was excellent. We will definitely eat here again some time.

Total Steps: 21,776

Up next...back to the Magic Kingdom

​

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We really like ABC Commissary too! My DH usually gets the Buffalo chicken grilled cheese and I get the pork tacos. I like the pickled stuff on the top.
I really hate RD….anywhere LOL. We just did it the other day at MK for the first time since the kids were little!! I’m not a fan. I feel like I’m in a herd of cows.
I also love that carrot cake “cookie” I haven’t had it since it was called that.
I hate how people think they are the only ones there and it’s only their vacation… people suck.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We love Il Mulino too!! I’m so happy you noticed that the parmigiana doesn’t come with pasta!!! What!?? What is wrong with these people!?? That’s the only thing that I don’t like about that restaurant. I think we will definitely try sharing those 2 items next time! I love how they even split it for you!!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I forgot to add that I found Il Mulino pasta sauce at Ocean State Job Lot!! I’m not sure if you have that store near you. They started in RI but there are quite a few in SE MA.
It is delicious!!

 

[mickey916]

We really like ABC Commissary too! My DH usually gets the Buffalo chicken grilled cheese and I get the pork tacos. I like the pickled stuff on the top.
I really hate RD….anywhere LOL.

We were saying we needed to go back sometime to try the Buffalo chicken grilled cheese (but definitely not rope dropping).

We love Il Mulino too!! I’m so happy you noticed that the parmigiana doesn’t come with pasta!!! What!?? What is wrong with these people!?? That’s the only thing that I don’t like about that restaurant. I think we will definitely try sharing those 2 items next time! I love how they even split it for you!!

It's funny, we almost didn't get it because it didn't come with pasta but then I had a brainstorm! It was awesome that they split it for us.

I forgot to add that I found Il Mulino pasta sauce at Ocean State Job Lot!! I’m not sure if you have that store near you. They started in RI but there are quite a few in SE MA.
It is delicious!!

Ooh! I need pasta sauce too...will definitely check that out. We have an Ocean State Job Lot not too far from us. Hope you're enjoying your trip! We leave for SD in the morning.

 

[mickey916]

4/28 Magic Kingdom​

On this day we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived in time for rope drop and headed to the Haunted Mansion. We were very excited to see the wait time!

I have been trying since the Hat Box Ghost arrived last year to get a good photo but it always comes out blurry. This time we lucked out when our Doomsbuggy stopped directly in front of him!

Not only did I get great photos but I also was able to get a video!

From there we rode Pirates and It’s a Small World before heading over to the Cheshire Cafe for a mid-morning snack.

On the way we saw Rabbit!

We shared a Cheshire Cat Tail. This was my DH’s first time trying one.

We thought this was good but pretty basic and not very big for sharing.

We ventured next to Under the Sea. We searched for Hidden Mickeys in the line and found this one.

We also found the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea tribute.

It just occurred to me as I was writing this that “Under the Sea” - Journey of the Little Mermaid, replaced 20,000 Leagues “Under the Sea”....I see what they did there…Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake…lol.

For lunch we took the boat to the Grand Floridian and shared two meals from Gasparilla Island Grill.

First we shared the Italian Sandwich.

This was a delicious sandwich with lots of meat and a soft, slightly sweet bread, similar to a Kings Hawaiian roll. Excellent! The chips were also very good!

We also shared the Greek Salad.

This was a nice fresh salad but not nearly as good as the ABC Commissary’s version. I would have preferred Kalamata olives instead of black olives. That being said the food is always good at Gasparilla’s.

After our meal, we walked back to the Magic Kingdom to continue our day.

Up next..more attractions and another bucket list snack!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We did have a nice trip thanks! Have fun in SD! I didn’t even realize that 20,000 leagues tribute! Very cool. Yeah the Cheshire Cat tail is nothing fabulous. I love the hat box ghost addition!
The food looks really good at Gasparillas we’ll need to try it next time on an MK day.

 

[Kristina685]

Just stumbled upon your trip report and have loved reading it thus far! I just have to say, you guys are retirement goals lol. I even turned to my husband while reading and said, “babe, I want this to be us when we retire” Great job so far!

 

[mickey916]

We did have a nice trip thanks! Have fun in SD! I didn’t even realize that 20,000 leagues tribute! Very cool. Yeah the Cheshire Cat tail is nothing fabulous. I love the hat box ghost addition!
The food looks really good at Gasparillas we’ll need to try it next time on an MK day.

Glad to hear you had a nice trip! Hope your DH enjoyed his beignets. We got back at 1:00 am from SD, two hour flight delay in Chicago for some unknown reason. We had a fabulous time in Hill City/Keystone! Definitely give Gasparillas a try!

 

[mickey916]

Just stumbled upon your trip report and have loved reading it thus far! I just have to say, you guys are retirement goals lol. I even turned to my husband while reading and said, “babe, I want this to be us when we retire” Great job so far!

Thank you so much! Glad to hear your enjoying my report. We absolutely are loving retirement, no regrets so far! Just got back from a great 5 day trip to South Dakota with our 26 year old son. I'll be back to posting updates regularly on our road trip now.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Glad to hear you had a nice trip! Hope your DH enjoyed his beignets. We got back at 1:00 am from SD, two hour flight delay in Chicago for some unknown reason. We had a fabulous time in Hill City/Keystone! Definitely give Gasparillas a try!

He did like the beignets but I think he expected them to be better from all the hype I guess.
Delays just suck and make me want to drive more. Glad to hear you had a fabulous time.
Did your other DS end up joining?

 

[mickey916]

He did like the beignets but I think he expected them to be better from all the hype I guess.
Delays just suck and make me want to drive more. Glad to hear you had a fabulous time.
Did your other DS end up joining?

We're pretty tired of dealing with airlines and prefer to drive too. If DH didn't have a garden to tend to we likely would have driven to SD and met our son there. Our other son didn't end up joining us. I think he would have loved it if he had. The three of us though had a great time. Weather was perfect and we got to see and do a bunch of cool stuff. I think this won't be our last trip there...perhaps our other son will join us next time, third times the charm????

 

[mickey916]

4/28 Snacks & Dinner​

After lunch we headed back into Magic Kingdom and rode some of our favorites: WDW RR, BTMRR, HM, Small World, and then it was time for dessert. We have been wanting to try the caramel apple handpie from Friar’s Nook ever since it debuted.

This was fantastic! The crust was crispy and covered with cinnamon sugar and the apple filling was very tasty. We rated it an “A” and gave it the ranking just above the carrot cake whoopie pie on our dessert ranking list!

We are so disappointed that this disappeared from the menu with the introduction of Tiana’s beignets. Fingers crossed it comes back soon!

We took a ride on Under the Sea, looking for more Hidden Mickeys. We thought maybe we saw a couple but didn’t get good pictures.

For dinner we were craving ‘Ohana so we took the Polynesian boat over for an early dinner at the Tambu Lounge.

The lounge was full when we arrived so we waited about 20 minutes for a seat. We ended up getting seated in the middle seats of a six-person hightop. A single diner was seated next to my DH who turned her back to him as she ate her noodles and read a book. On the other side of us was a young couple clearly on a date that wasn’t going well. The guy was trying really hard to make conversation and the girl was not being very responsive. She was actually kinda mean in some of the things she was saying to him. It made for a very awkward experience for us sandwiched in between these two parties. Next time I think we will request not to be seated in the middle of two parties. But, I digress…on to the food!

We ordered honey coriander wings, potstickers and the famous ‘Ohana noodles.

These were all just as delicious as always! Such a great alternative if ‘Ohana is unavailable, especially since these items along with the bread pudding are our favorites! We didn’t get dessert as we were frankly eager to leave our weird seating situation.

We headed back to Magic Kingdom and went to the upper floor of the train station in time to see yet another SpaceX rocket launch.

Not quite as good a view as our previous sightings but still cool to see.

We headed to Plaza Ice Cream for dessert after our rocket viewing and shared an All American Sundae with all chocolate ice cream and extra peanut butter.

This was another excellent dessert! We prefer the No Way Jose from Beaches & Cream but this was a good substitute.

After dessert we returned to our hotel after another great day of food and fun.

Total Steps: 26,255

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Good call on Tambu lounge. We have done that several times mostly bc I want bread pudding for dessert.
That Plaza sundae looks really good. My DH’s favorite chocolate ice cream and peanut butter.

 

[mickey916]

Good call on Tambu lounge. We have done that several times mostly bc I want bread pudding for dessert.
That Plaza sundae looks really good. My DH’s favorite chocolate ice cream and peanut butter.

We had every intention of getting the bread pudding for dessert but we were just so eager to escape the awkward situation. Can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter though instead!