Ooh-de-lally! A dining heavy October '13 Trip Report *update 2/23-We're Going Back!*

[TheMaxRebo]

Journey shut down early when we were there last so we missed it. Haven't ridden it since I was a kid but didn't realize it had changed. Will have to check it out next trip as chugged or not my daughter will love it.

Yeah, now is technically the third variation - originally the Dreamfinder was the main character with Figment in a minor role, then they switched for a few years to one centered around Honey I Shrunk the Kids and now the current one where they brought back Figment in an expanded or not. It's definitely cute and fun - and air conditioned which is a plus ... also, generally pretty much no wait.

Haha, I almost feel like I'm hearing the "Meanwhile back at the Hall of Justice" voice as this update runs pretty much concurrently with the last couple.

That's pretty much the same description of Journey Into Imagination for me too Phil. It is cute but that's about it. And the Eric Idle Moon face is pretty terrifying. I'm with Olivia on that one.

Yes, waiting too long to visit MK is just wrong. Glad you are in the process of fixing that!!

haha yes, well, I guess we are at least a variant on the Super Friends - though, knowing my luck I'd get stuck as Aquaman. I'll try to slip in a "Same Bat time, same Bat channel" at some point as well

yeah, not having MK early in the schedule was one thing I wasn't crazy about with my original plan, but I knew we wanted to catch some of the F&WF events on the weekend but hit most of the parks during the week - but things definitely worked out for the best!

I completely agree with Olivia's feelings about trolls and especially those on Maelstrom. Not sure how that's suppose to boost tourism for Norway!

I have mixed feelings about Journey into Imagination mainly because I wish they would do more with it and Figment. Our kids still love the attraction but the post ride area just looks so bare.

Anytime is a good time to park hop to MK! Can't wait to hear what happens next!

Yeah, I love Maelstrom but it is a weird sales pitch for tourism ... hey, if the Trolls don't get ya you can work on our deep sea oil rigs!

Journey seems like one of those things that is a good lesser ride but probably hard to justify the cost of a major upgrade. I agree that the post ride area is a little bear (it's like multiple versions of 3 things) but at least it is something and it is air conditioned.

We were pretty excited to get a monorail ride in on our first full day and to experience some of MK even if it was only a few hours. ... and that is what is happening next!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

oooooooops i posted a comment on the wrong TR! Guess thats what I get for having so many open to creep on at once! lol still gotta go read yours before I make any other comments!

Hey, I am open to any and all input, I'm not picky ... um don't let my wife read that comment. Hope to read you around here again!

Those are some crazy lines at the food booths. Was Argentina even one of the more popular food booths? I can't imagine what it would be for the Australian line for the shrimp.

While not a huge Figment fan I do love the interactive activities at the end. Perhaps I didn't grow up with the attraction and know what it was all about.... I still just imagine Monty Python when I think of Journey into Imagination,

Glad you were able to convince Olivia that SE didn't have any of those evil trolls.... only those wooly mammoths being attacked by early man. A child pleaser for sure! I agree, the earth projected at the end of the ride is perfectly done for that location in the ride when you care at the epicenter of the dome.

They were all pretty similar - about 40-60 people deep. Australia definitely was hopping - that and Canada (which had 2 lines each 30-40 people).

I agree. With Eric Idle hosting the ride it's hard not to picture the connection to Monty Python. At the end of the ride they should just have Figment say "Hope you enjoyed the ride! If not, at least it was air conditioned!" and then 40 animatronics that sing "Always look on the bright side of life!"

Yeah, SW isn't necessarily a kid pleaser if you get too deep in the details ... man ganging up on a woolly mammoth, burning books, a great advancement in society being "school", 70's clothes, etc.

This is great! I'm joining in, and really enjoying your TR so far. I have a princess-obsessed 2.5-year-old, and we have a mission to meet all 11 princesses during our January trip (well, 12, if you count Sofia, which we do).

Welcome! Thanks for joining. Good luck with that - hope you have at least 1 princess meal booked to help out with that. Gotta love Disney with releasing a new movie with not one, but 2 new princesses in it

Oh, and do you count Minnie? According to Mickey "Gosh Minnie, you'll always be a princess to me!"

Somehow I fell behind. Bad me!

Man, that entire members of your party being present thing will get you every time. We hustled over to Via Napoli in July, and we had slow poke and slow pokier behind us. I was worried we would lose the reservation, and they wouldn't check us in either. I'm glad you didn't have to wait too much longer to get checked in.

I was actually going to comment that those potatoes looked super yummy. I'm glad to hear that they lived up to their picture's reputation.

Awww, Peter does the fist-bump blow up?! Joaquin used to do that when he wasn't even 2 years old too!

Tequila lunch? Sold!

I didn't have anything to actually say about that meal, because I was just reading and drooling all over my laptop. It looked incredible!

Wow, that's interesting that mimosas were made with Grand Marnier as an extra ingredient. And I am also for extra booze in my booze.

I was a huge fan of Figment back in the day too, with my own stuffed Figment that I picked out. And I still have him. Today's incarnation is just as you described it. It's cute. Nothing fantastic.

Yeah, I was a bit worried about the whole thing. Getting 10 people from 2 different families up and out the door the first day after a long travel day just took longer than I thought. Fortunately it wasn't an issue at all!

Potatoes were definitely good ... good thing we wound up walking over 35 miles during our week there though

Apparently back in the day oranges were really rare (that's why getting one in your stocking is a treat) so adding it to already a high quality liquor/drink was truly decadent. Definitely agree about booze being added to booze!

That's cool you still have your figment - he's definitely a highlight of the ride/experience. We almost bought one for my son, but didn't pull the trigger as he kept getting distracted by other toys.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 2 - Part 7: Magic Kingdom ... Dreaming Along with Mickey!​

As mentioned in the last update, we decided to head out from EPCOT and spend the rest of the evening at Magic Kingdom. It was great to just be able to hop the monorail over and also great to get in with little to no lines at that point in the day.

Once we got in, the first order of business was to stop at City Hall and get our "I'm Celebrating" Buttons. Anniversary for Judi and myself, 1st visit for Bob and Peter, and the generic Celebration buttons for Olivia and Kathy.

While we were there we noticed they were about to start the flag ceremony which we had never seen so we decided to take it in. It was cute: A couple of young kids were selected to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and then the Dapper Dans sang a few tunes as they lowered the flag for the day.

Our main mission for the evening was to get on, as Olivia put it, "Ariel's ride" - which, given the length of the actual name of the ride, is a much easier way to refer to it. This, combined with the fact that we were yet to see Newish Fantasyland made it a no brainer that we would head that way.

On our way towards it I noticed in the times guide that Dream-Along with Mickey was about to start. We had not yet seen that show (I know, bad DISer) ... to be honest, we haven't been big show or parade people in the past - but I have read so many positive things in other trip reports about this show that I really did want to see it, and Olivia agreed to see this first before going on "Ariel's Ride".

I am so glad that we did.

I think it is one of those shows that each individual character gets you emotionally a little - and then when you see like 15-20 of them all together it combines and really give you the feelings. I got a similar feeling watching the boat part towards the end of Fantastmic!

So anyway, I took a bunch of pictures ....

"Gosh Minnie, you'll always be a princess to me!"

"Did someone say adventure?!?!?!"

And this might be my favorite picture from our trip. Not ashamed to admit I got a bit emotional and teary when I looked over and saw my daughter on her grandfather's shoulders just captivated by watching all these characters she loves and I love performing in front of her. Was just glad she got to share it with her grandfather.

Following the show we headed over to Newish Fantasyland. Before we got to Ariel's ride I tried to get some construction pictures of the Mine Train ride. This was the best one I got, and I really can't wait for this ride to be complete. A) It looks like it will be a ton of fun and b) It will really finish up the land and make it all seem like one big area

To be continued ....

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 2 - Part 8: Magic Kingdom ... Enchantment Under the Sea​

We finally made it into Newish Fantasyland and I really did love all the details they put into the area. We didn't get to really take them in as we had a mission - so we got in line for "Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermain" - a.k.a. "Ariel's Ride" even though the posted standby time was 60 minutes

Upon entering the queue I was given the enormous responsibility of carrying a wait time tracking card. It was a burden I was prepared to take on:

I must say, Disney hit it out of the park (well, I mean, not literally, it is still actually physically in the park) with this queue - the details are great and as long as you are moving the wait didn't seem so bad. The little game with the blue crabs was cute (though, they should have continued them further into the queue).

I thought these lights were pretty neat, though Judi pointed out (and it was a good point) that they probably should hang them in groups of more than two

I did want to mention that on line we did have probably our worst experience during our stay. There was a family in front of us that apparently didn't feel it was there responsibility to ensure that their kids behaved. They had two boys in the 8-12 age range that were just running around crazy, back and forth through the line and just not caring what or who they ran into. I am not one to make an issue out of things but after the third time that they physically hit/made contact with a member of my family I finally spoke up and said "excuse me, but could you please watch where you are going as you just hit us several times". The boy then complained to one of his parents that I said something to him to which their response was a shrug. Later on the boys were climbing over the rocks and actually hitting light figures with their toy swords/spy glasses, and eventually their parents even encouraged them cut the line and get into the ride early - fortunately a CM noticed this and sent them back. Just not sure what people are thinking - guess they were just special snowflakes.

Ok, moving on to happier thoughts ....

The part with Scuttle is pretty cute too and Peter was fascinated by him:

I also enjoyed the last room before the loading area - especially the images and stories that are up on the ceiling:

So anyway, as I mentioned as long as the line keeps moving it isn't so bad but we got stuck in this last room with the line not moving for a good 20 mins, and that started to feel long. Eventually though it did move and we got into our Clammobile and into the ride.

Overall we loved the ride (wound up riding it again another day). While it is just kind of a super-sized dark ride, I think it is a well executed one and while maybe not pushing technological barriers and perhaps a ride all about being underwater could have featured some actual, you know, water, it is all very well done with some great animatronics.

Love the effect of "going under the sea":

Peter was pretty fascinated by the whole ride to be honest:

I love this picture becase A) Olivia is really into it 2) Kathy seems to be having the time of her life and iii) It's a picture of Judi taking a picture:

One thing I do have to say is the ride felt like it was missing a scene or two as if you didn't know the story it would seem like Eric did in fact "Kiss da girl" and that is how they lived happily ever after. Oh well.


After we got off we weren't entirely sure what we wanted to do as most of the major rides (and even the minor ones) had long waits and fast passes were done or for much later on. Ultimately we decided to ride the Mad Tea Party.

You see, not only did Olivia's teachers not mind her taking some days off for the trip, they actually were super excited for her, and one did make a request that we ride the "tea cups" for her - so we wanted to make sure we got that in.

I know he doesn't look like it here, but trust me Peter enjoyed himself:

After that we were starting to feel hungry. We really just wanted to get something relatively quick and easy (and I had double checked and TIW didn't help at any of the counter service places), so we went to something in the area and ate at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Express.

We decided to eat outside which was a good thing as it turned out Olivia was not a fan of Cosmic Ray (she gets scared by characters she doesn't know). Overall we enjoyed our meal here and liked the variety - though they set up with having different foods at different "bays" was a bit annoying as you may have had to go on multiple lines to get everything you wanted.

Below are some shots of the food we got.

Angus Bacon Cheeseburger with French Fries: I got this and though it was, while pretty basic, not bad at all
Greek Salad: Bob got this and was quite happy with it. We all commented on how large a portion it was, especially for the price

Grilled Chicken Sandwich: with cucumber saladJudi got this and thought it was pretty good too. Again, pretty large portion
Kids Chicken Nuggets with fries: Olivia and Peter split this. Pretty basic but not terrible and they ate it

Kids Turkey Sandwich: Kathy got this and thought it was pretty good. I liked that it came on the flat bread rather than just plain white bread or something.
Also, I was glad that both kids meals came with drinks and grapes and carrot sticks in addition to french fries

After we ate we were all pretty beat after the crazy long travel day the previous day and going all day today so we decided to head out. We knew we would be back to the Magic Kingdom again and would catch the evening entertainment then.

Unfortunately it seemed like everyone else was planning to stay and was camping out pretty early for the MSE Parade/Celebrate the Magic/Wishes and getting out was quite the challenge. We finally managed to get to the intersection on Main Street by the Ice Cream Parlor and they were directing people who wanted to leave to make that left and go past The Plaza Restaurant and they then routed us behind the Main Street stores on that side to help get us out. I think this was technically "off stage" so I didn't take any pictures - but it was definitely a cool and unexpected experience.

We finally did eventually get out, take the monorail back to EPCOT, got in our car and back to our resort and to bed. Fortunately we had a "day off" the next day ... but it brought some unexpected adventures as well.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great Dream Along With Mickey Photos! I understand why the pic of your daughter on grandpa's shoulders would get you emotional! It's such a great picture and a wonderful memory to have!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 2 - Recap​

For each of our full days I thought I would recap the highs and lows and see where we stand on our missions.


Highs:

• Matching Belle dresses
• Getting to see 5 princesses before the parks officially open
• Cheesy potatoes at Akershus
• Sharing Living with the Land with friends
• Mickey "blowing up knuckles" with Peter
• Tequila Lunch - with the food being as good as the tequila and learnings something!
• Winning a prize at the tequila lunch
• Taste, Shake, and Indulge - fancy drinks and desserts and Judi getting to spend time with her mom
• Getting to sit by the railing at San Angel Inn
• The McNamees helping Perry and enjoying the beauty that is EPCOT
• The McNamee kids getting their groove on to Off Kilter
• Enjoying the post ride activities at both Journey Into Imagination and Spaceship Earth
• Olivia finding out that Spaceship Earth does, in fact, not have any trolls
• Getting to Magic Kingdom on the first full day - which wasn't planned for
• Watching Dream Along with Mickey
• Watching my daughter watch Dream Along with Mickey
• Getting on "Ariel's ride"
• Going on the Mad Tea Party as requested by Olivia's teacher
• Getting to go "back stage" at Magic Kingdom

Lows:

• Running ahead to check in at Akershus only to be told the entire party had to be there
• The crowds and not getting to any of the F&WF booths
• Not getting on Soarin' or Test Track (wound up not getting on either later in the trip either)
• The heat
• Having to wait 60 mins for "Ariels ride"
• The special snowflakes on the queue for said ride
• the crowds and how hard it was to get out of Magic Kingdom, especially with how tired/spent we were.

So overall, a lot more highs than lows - we really did get a lot done for one day so really can't complain!


Goal tracking:

• Princesses: 5 of 8 met
• AP/TIW savings: $28.97 from AP + $114.51 from TIW = $143.48
• Incorrect pictures in TR: 1 (Germany instead of Norway)

 

[nimbuscat]

Welcome! Thanks for joining. Good luck with that - hope you have at least 1 princess meal booked to help out with that. Gotta love Disney with releasing a new movie with not one, but 2 new princesses in it

Oh, and do you count Minnie? According to Mickey "Gosh Minnie, you'll always be a princess to me!"

Thanks for the updates today! I've been checking back most of the day and got a nice little surprise this evening.

You just reminded me that we will actually be in search of FOURTEEN princesses in January, thanks to Anna and Elsa from Frozen. We do actually have two princess meals booked, and plans on how/where to meet the ones not covered there. Ha!

 

[emmysmommy]

What a great photo of Olivia with her grandpa watching the Dream Along with Mickey show!

The special snowflakes in the line ... I will never understand why parents think that is ok. I actually said something to some teens one time who were moving the FP ropes to have that line merge with the standby line. They were so annoying that when I finally spoke up the people in line behind us clapped. Satisfaction I tell ya!

You captured a great photo in the clam mobile with your daughter, wife and MIL. Perfect!

For not planning to spend time in MK you did quite well!

Not sure where the tandem light fixtures in the Ariel line queue fall into the highs or lows list??

Glad that you are keeping track of princesses, spending, and the what photo doesn't belong - I was worried I would have to do this myself.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Great updates!

I've been on Ariel's ride twice so far and each time went through the FP queue so haven't had a chance to experience the stand by queue. I think for our upcoming trip in January we will plan on getting in line earlier in the morning and will go for the stand by queue!

I totally agree with you about the abrupt ending. They completely glossed over the battle with Ursula so you don't get to full story.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great Dream Along With Mickey Photos! I understand why the pic of your daughter on grandpa's shoulders would get you emotional! It's such a great picture and a wonderful memory to have!

Thank you - yeah, definitely a bunch of great memories from this trip!

Thanks for the updates today! I've been checking back most of the day and got a nice little surprise this evening.

You just reminded me that we will actually be in search of FOURTEEN princesses in January, thanks to Anna and Elsa from Frozen. We do actually have two princess meals booked, and plans on how/where to meet the ones not covered there. Ha!

Good luck! We got lucky that Olivia is really only interested in the princesses she knows - so she was ok with not seeing Mulan, Pocahontas, and Merida. We did also meet Sophia the First though - she is a huge fan of hers

What a great photo of Olivia with her grandpa watching the Dream Along with Mickey show!

The special snowflakes in the line ... I will never understand why parents think that is ok. I actually said something to some teens one time who were moving the FP ropes to have that line merge with the standby line. They were so annoying that when I finally spoke up the people in line behind us clapped. Satisfaction I tell ya!

You captured a great photo in the clam mobile with your daughter, wife and MIL. Perfect!

For not planning to spend time in MK you did quite well!

Not sure where the tandem light fixtures in the Ariel line queue fall into the highs or lows list??

Glad that you are keeping track of princesses, spending, and the what photo doesn't belong - I was worried I would have to do this myself.

Thanks - Looking back I am so glad we caught that show. This trip definitely highlighted the benefit of catching more shows and parades and stuff.

Yeah, I mean, I know my kids aren't perfect and will run off at times but I do my best to ensure they aren't annoying other people (let alone physically making contact with them). While we were stuck not moving they eventually got tired of waiting and the whole family went out the CM only door before the loading area for Ariel's ride ... not actually sure what ultimately happened to them.

No problem - happy to keep track of things for you ... I do aim for this TR to not completely feel like a homework assignment

Great updates!

I've been on Ariel's ride twice so far and each time went through the FP queue so haven't had a chance to experience the stand by queue. I think for our upcoming trip in January we will plan on getting in line earlier in the morning and will go for the stand by queue!

I totally agree with you about the abrupt ending. They completely glossed over the battle with Ursula so you don't get to full story.

The queue really is great - only thing, like a mentioned, is they should have more of the crab games further into the queue ... seems like the parts towards the end where you are more likely to have to spend time waiting have less to do at least ones.

Yeah, guess they figured to keep it shorter / simpler with the story line, but one more high quality / large scene with the battle with the giant Ursula would have been really cool and really made the ride

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Yes, the "Ariel Ride" is the perfect name for this ridiculously long-named ride.

Aww gee Phil, your making me a bit misty here now too. This is SUCH a great show and I'm so glad you got to see it for one, but even better, got to see your child enjoying it. This is Disney!!!

Honestly, as much as I'm looking forward to riding the Mine Train, I am WAY more looking forward to having the construction walls down and to FINALLY have New(ish) FL in all its glory.

Carrying the time tracking card is the best... job... ever.

Oy is all I can say regarding the parents of those 2 boys. I clearly just don't get the mentality of some people.

Totally agree that the "under the sea" effect is wicked cool.

"Incorrect pictures in TR: 1 (Germany instead of Norway)" OK, so I don't feel bad pointing that out anymore since it appears it was goal.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yes, the "Ariel Ride" is the perfect name for this ridiculously long-named ride.

Aww gee Phil, your making me a bit misty here now too. This is SUCH a great show and I'm so glad you got to see it for one, but even better, got to see your child enjoying it. This is Disney!!!

Honestly, as much as I'm looking forward to riding the Mine Train, I am WAY more looking forward to having the construction walls down and to FINALLY have New(ish) FL in all its glory.

Carrying the time tracking card is the best... job... ever.

Oy is all I can say regarding the parents of those 2 boys. I clearly just don't get the mentality of some people.

Totally agree that the "under the sea" effect is wicked cool.

"Incorrect pictures in TR: 1 (Germany instead of Norway)" OK, so I don't feel bad pointing that out anymore since it appears it was goal.

Yeah, I know a lot of people have complaints about Disney (heck, just read a couple threads on hear about FP+ and you think the world was ending) but when you just see the joy on a child's face watching Mickey Mouse perform or getting a kiss from Snow White and make it all worth while

I hear you about wanting the construction walls down in Newish Fantasy Land - I really think when the Mine Train ride is done that whole area will really come together

Oh, I definitely did not intentionally use the wrong picture - just trying to be upfront and honest about my mistakes

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 3 - Part 1: Art of Animation ... The Food Court Must Be Explored!​

Sunday dawned on one of our down days, but that didn't mean we did nothing. First task of the day was to go to church.

The other thing we needed to do was stop by an urgent care location. Kathy's eye had been bugging her to the point she really needed to get it looked at and Judi had some irritation on her chin and figured if her mom was going anyway, she would go too. So Bob called their insurance to find out what places around us were covered and were told of a location basically on the way to the Mary, Queen of the Universe church so figured we would hit that up on the way back.

So we made it to church fine and survived it with two kids who didn't want to spend their time in Florida at church and headed to the urgent care location. Upon arriving at said location we were informed that there was no urgent care facility there and there had not been one for 2 years.




Ok, I guess the insurance company's information was not super current. So Bob got back on the phone to find another location and was informed the next closest one was towards downtown Orlando about 30 mins away ...

... So off we went. Then upon arriving at this address we encountered ... nothing. There was no building, no, well, nothing - just some grass and trees. So we called the location directly and they informed us that the address the insurance company had was very much not correct and their actual location was rather close to our condo's location ... meaning, not 30 mins away

So at this point kids were getting antsy and we were all getting frustrated and hungry so we decided to go get lunch and then Judi and her mom would go to the real location for the urgent care facility after some food.

We decided to eat at Landscape of Flavor because:
A) I heard it was good
2) I have really wanted to check out AoA and figured we could spend some time walking around while Judi and her mom are gone
iii) They take TIW there


So we head over and since we had been traveling from our time share to the parks via the back way, this was actually the first time we drove under the arch - and pretty sure you are required by DIS law (or at least DIS lore) to take a picture:

When we arrived at Art of Animation it was basically love at first sight for me with the resort. Maybe just because it is new or something, but I couldn't get over how bright and fresh and fun it seemed.

We made our way past all the fun souviners and into Landscapes of Flavor. At this point I think Pete was just really glad to be out of the car - or just excited to sit in a real chair:

oh, and I thought this was cute what they did at the fixin's bar:

I sat with the kids while Bob, Kathy, and Judi figured out what they wanted, and then Judi and I went to get everything.

I got the:
Surf and Surf Burger: Crab Cake topped with fried Popcorn shrimp, tomato, lettuce, and cajun reoulade on a brioche bun served with house-seasoned fries

This was really yummy - actually better than I was expecting and it was huge. Not that it stopped me from finishing it.


Judi, Bob, and Kathy got:
Tandori Portuguese Sausage: - with Naan bread, Roasted Cauliflower with Tomatoes, and Acorn Squash
Tandori Boneless Chicken Thigh: with Naan bread, Roasted Cauliflower with Tomatoes, and Spinach and Paneer cheese
Caprese Sandwich: vine-ripened tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves and balsamic drizzle on Ciabatta served with house-made chips

They were all really happy with their choices. Both Judi and Bob did say their meats were not as flavorful as they hoped but their sides (especially the roasted cauliflower) were great and when you mixed things together it was all really good.


Peter got:
Kids Fish Platter: with Basmati Rice and Naan

The fish was pretty good and was not dry at all. Pete was happy


Olivia got:
Macaroni and Cheese. Both her's and Peters came with Apples and Grapes and Juice to drink:

We thought this was pretty good and definitely was made from scratch/not from a box. It wasn't amazing or anything but pretty good.


To drink the rest of us got/shared soft drinks. This was also our first exposure to the Rapid Fill system. In case anyone has not seen I took a picture of the RFID chip that was on the bottom of my paper cup:

Once we figured out you had to keep the cup in contact with the surface it all worked fine. Though I will admit I got around the time limit by later filling my cup with iced coffee since the coffee and tea is not on the Rapid Fill System (though if anyone from Disney is reading this I was within my number of refills limit)

Using TIW we saved $15.12 here brining our running total to $158.60

After lunch Judi and her mom went off to the urgent care facility (and, to close the loop, both got taken care of and were very happy they went), while Bob, the kids and I went to explore the reset of the resort.

continued below ... like, right below ... just keep reading, just keep reading

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 3 - Part 2: Art of Animation ... Resort Touring​

So out we went to explore the rest of Art of Animation. I took a ton of pictures so this update will mostly just be pictures accompanied by witty comments.

.... *sound of crickets* .... ok, moving on

First had to get a picture of this as Peter says "Mine" about 773,892 times a day

We then walked through the Lion King section:

and then on to the Little Mermaid section which was the one section Olivia mostly wanted to see (we just went through the Lion King section to get there)

love the detail:

this dude is huge!

I loved the little story signs they had out:

We quickly went through the Finding Nemo section and the kids spend some time on the slide/play area:

and then on to the Cars section where the kids wanted to take a picture basically with every Car. Below are some of the best pics - including some of the funniest poses ever from Olivia:

We then went back into Landscape of Flavors for dessert where we split some gelato:

This was quite good and a pretty decent portion. For people on the dining plan they can get this as a dessert which is a nice option.


Judi and her mom met us there and then we went back to the condo to rest up. Judi and I had our big anniversary dinner later that night.

 

[michly]

I'm still giggling over the photo of Olivia checking Mater's teeth (a reasonable reason for sticking one's head in another's mouth) many minutes later!

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Son of a bee sting indeed. Yikes. I probably would have lost it and used much more colorful language (at a volume barely audible to the kids in the backseat ).

Isn't AoA just wonderfully themed? We stayed there last January and the kids were completely in love with the resort. I think the kids would be perfectly happy if we tried each different suite/room at AoA for the next four trips. It took quite a bit of effort to convince our DD that AKL would be equally cool.

 

[courtneybelle]

at "Newish Fantasyland." Very fitting considering it's been about a year.

Great DAWM pics!

Ugh, that's so frustrating about the urgent care situation!

I'm hoping to try Landscape of Flavors when we stay at Pop next summer. It looks amazing.

I laughed out loud at Olivia being eaten by Mater!

 

[missangelalexis]

Ugh how annoying about the urgent care locations! But I'm glad they were able to go and everything worked out for them!

Art of Animation really is super fun and bright! The surf and surf burger sounded interesting, I almost got it myself but decided on something else. I'm glad to hear it was good! And I love all your pictures!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm still giggling over the photo of Olivia checking Mater's teeth (a reasonable reason for sticking one's head in another's mouth) many minutes later!

Happy to make you giggle They both had a ton of fun with the various Cars

Great pics!

Why thank you!

Son of a bee sting indeed. Yikes. I probably would have lost it and used much more colorful language (at a volume barely audible to the kids in the backseat ).

Isn't AoA just wonderfully themed? We stayed there last January and the kids were completely in love with the resort. I think the kids would be perfectly happy if we tried each different suite/room at AoA for the next four trips. It took quite a bit of effort to convince our DD that AKL would be equally cool.

Yeah, it wasn't the end of the world just annoying that with their insurance you can only use the places in network ... well then it would be good if their information for where these "in network" places was, you know, accurate

I definitely think that were we to stay on site in the future, unless we can swing a Deluxe or something we would look to stay at AoA especially given they have the family suites there

at "Newish Fantasyland." Very fitting considering it's been about a year.

Great DAWM pics!

Ugh, that's so frustrating about the urgent care situation!

I'm hoping to try Landscape of Flavors when we stay at Pop next summer. It looks amazing.

I laughed out loud at Olivia being eaten by Mater!

Well, it was still "New" to me, but considering that it is opening in sections at this is at least the 2nd section ow open figured that "New Land Smell" is starting to wear off.

Thanks - As I am putting together this TR I realized I wasn't so great at taking pictures as we were walking to places, but I did take a tone whenever we were standing still - like for shows or fireworks, etc. I am happy with the pictures and brings back happy memories looking at them.

We were very happy with Landscape of Flavors - lots of options and some different options which is good. Only thing is it was a little smaller than I was expecting. Not that it was tiny or anything, just from pictures it looked huge and when I got there just didn't feel quite as grand.

Well, you just know what Mater said after he was finished eating Olivia ... Got 'er Done!