Operation Photopass! First trip to Disney World - TR - COMPLETED 07/16

After Duffy, we found Peter Pan and "friends"!

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More Spaceship Earth shots...

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And while we were close, we decided to go for a ride in it. It was really dark in there, so we didn't take any photos but the sign...

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I don't really remember what happened on this ride, as I was half asleep for most of it. It was just so slow moving and dark, it was reaaaaaally hard to stay awake. If you're looking for a quiet place to nap, this is it!

After Spaceship Earth, we wandered back to Club Cool. We wanted to give the famous Beverly a try. And I was silly enough to not take any photos of our faces. I will admit I had a tiny sip.....and that's all I needed to confirm what everyone else has confirmed. It was nasty. Kinda tasted like soda water. But it was enough that I needed to buy a bottle of actual coke after. Yuck!

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Well it was almost time to use our Soarin' Fastpasses, so off we went in that direction, but we only got a few feet before I spotted a Disney art store, so we had to stop in there for a few minutes. I love Disney art. I'd take it all home if I could!

Finally we made it to Soarin'. There is not much to say about this ride. It's the same as the one in Disneyland. Don't get me wrong, I love the one in Disneyland, but it's weird seeing a video about California when you are in Florida. Just seems like they should personalize this one a little more.

After Soarin' it was about 5:30. Our dinner reservations weren't until 7:35, but I wanted to see if we could get in earlier. I wanted to get a good spot for Illuminations at 9:00, and didn't want to rush our meal.

We had walked in the back door by accident (not sure how) and ended up in the room with all the aquariums. I think it's also the room you exit into after the Nemo ride, which we never made it on. Sigh. But the aquariums were so cool to watch. And big!

We exited back out the doors and wandered around to the right side...

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We went in, and asked if we could get in early, and if it was possible to get a waterside table. Good news, we were able to get in! We were given a buzzer and told to sit in the waiting area. Well my butt barely hit the cushion before the buzzer went off.

We were shown to our table, which wasn't quite waterside, but fairly close. I would have preferred to be right next to it though.

Blurry Dillon...
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Dark me....
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Our view for our meal...
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Including the people who got the spot I wanted :mad:
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Not long after we were seated, we were given some bread.
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It was ok. A little hard and difficult to break apart to spread butter on.

Then we were told that smoothies were included with our dining plan, so we took advantage of that and ordered these...
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Mine was a pina colada and strawberry, and Dillon's was just strawberry. They were very sweet, but really good.

Sea Turtle!
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For supper we both ordered the Sirloin steak. I had forgotten to take a photo until I was 3/4's through the meal. I won't share my half eaten food with you. But I can tell you that it was ok. It wasn't great. There was a lot of fat on mine, and Dillon's was cooked well, when he wanted it rare. The potatoes and mushrooms were very good though. As well as the red wine sauce.

Next was dessert...
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I had the keylime dessert
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And I Dillon had the cheesecake
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I really enjoyed my keylime dessert, but Dillon wasn't a fan of his. It was actually a really bitter tasting cheesecake. Almost like they forgot to add something.

Overall, it was an ok meal, but probably wouldn't go back there for dinner again. The food was only ok, but we loved the atmosphere.

Cool lighting
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After dinner we decided it we should just go find our spot for Illuminations. We were tired from the long day of walking, so sitting was sounding pretty good.​

To be continued...​
 
I'm sorry to hear your review of the Coral Reef Restaurant......this is one I"m really looking forward to. We're doing a lunch there......hope you just hit on an off night!! :worried:
 
I'm sorry to hear your review of the Coral Reef Restaurant......this is one I"m really looking forward to. We're doing a lunch there......hope you just hit on an off night!! :worried:

Well it wasn't bad, it just wasn't fantastic. The waiter was really good. Most of the food was good. My steak was just really fatty and Dillon says his was even kind of greasy. I think they are more known for their seafood though. I am not a seafood eater, but I wanted the atmosphere, and I thought that was great. Also I find it kind of weird to be eating seafood while you're watching it swim around. :confused3 And you're right, it could have just been an off night.
 
And I am not really sure what this photo is of, but I am going to post it anyway, in case there is something I missed....but i have a feeling it was an accident photo. Oh well, here is Disney pavement!

:rotfl2: You're funny :rotfl2: Maybe there was a little lizard there, but he scurried away before the camera could get him?? But actually, they did a whole blog on AllEars about the different Disney pavements in different areas and how it all went with the themes. So you could just say you thought that particular pavement was neat :) Anyway, great update. You confirmed my thoughts about Coral Reef. Glad I didn't spend the money to try it. Maybe someday...
 

I would love to see them do a Soarin' over the United States or something along those lines. I think that would be really cool.
 
:rotfl2: You're funny :rotfl2: Maybe there was a little lizard there, but he scurried away before the camera could get him?? But actually, they did a whole blog on AllEars about the different Disney pavements in different areas and how it all went with the themes. So you could just say you thought that particular pavement was neat :) Anyway, great update. You confirmed my thoughts about Coral Reef. Glad I didn't spend the money to try it. Maybe someday...

Well I guess you never know who might enjoy pavement photos! Can't leave anything out on here, haha!

The atmosphere is definitely worth going to Coral Reef, but maybe lunch might be better, or maybe the seafood is really good, and we just had their dish that wasn't as great.

Loving your report so far. Can't wait to read more!!

Thanks so much! :goodvibes

I would love to see them do a Soarin' over the United States or something along those lines. I think that would be really cool.

Yeah, that would be cool! Just something a little different. The idea for the ride is good, but the two should have different videos.

I had a whole other post ready to put up last night, and when I went to switch tabs from photobucket to the Dis, I accidently closed it. :furious:

I will try another attempt tonight!
 
Well I guess you never know who might enjoy pavement photos! Can't leave anything out on here, haha!

The atmosphere is definitely worth going to Coral Reef, but maybe lunch might be better, or maybe the seafood is really good, and we just had their dish that wasn't as great.



Thanks so much! :goodvibes



Yeah, that would be cool! Just something a little different. The idea for the ride is good, but the two should have different videos.

I had a whole other post ready to put up last night, and when I went to switch tabs from photobucket to the Dis, I accidently closed it. :furious:

I will try another attempt tonight!


I was writing a post earlier today, and I accidently erased the whole thing. I decided to give up.:rotfl:
 
More great pics!

I love Mexico. That is my favorite country

Was that the only ride you took on Spaceship Earth? Just curius since you slept for this ride :rotfl: Really cool interactive part towards the end

Glad you got into Coral Reef early and it looks really cool in there. Bummer food was not that good though :hyper:
 
Oh yes! Now that you mention it, I do remember the screen in front of us now. That part was pretty cool!

I wish we had gone into Mexico a little more. We were at the end, and tired, so we kind of just skimmed it.
 
I was JUST thinking this!!!! Would people eat a steak while staring into a field of cows???!!! Nope. :rotfl:

Exactly! That's what I was thinking when looking at the menu before I decided to pick the place. I was glad to see some other selections than seafood, cause I wanted the atmosphere, but not that kind of food. It's just weird. You don't want a chicken clucking beside you when you're eating KFC, do you?

Well sorry for the hiatus on my TR. We did an unexpected trip to Banff this weekend for Dillon's Mom's Birthday, so didn't get time. We had a blast, and I will post some photos in a bit, once I get them loaded onto the computer. Then I will continue with the TR. :)
 
Well I guess I took a few more photos than I thought, so there will be a couple posts on Banff. There are a couple Disney related ones so it is not completely off topic, at least! :)

It was a great weekend with Dillon's family, and his Mom had a blast. She told us all that it was the best birthday ever. We sat around and played games, swam in the resort pool (though a little chilly), cooked some great meals, and explored a bit of the town. It was really nice, even though it was raining for part of it. We've even decided that we might try to make it an annual thing for Christmas! That would be fun! Anyways, here are some photos of our weekend. Wish I had gotten more of the group activities though.

Our rainy day exploring the town:

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Can't even see the mountains!

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In downtown Banff, they have a Spirit of Christmas store where I spotted these:

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Then we all enjoyed a lunch at one of my favourite places to eat, Chili's:

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To be continued...
 
Seth was having fun during lunch, hamming it up for his aunt's and uncles nearby:

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This morning, I took a walk around the resort a bit and took some photos of where we were staying. Such a beautiful place:

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The pool area with an amazing view:

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BBQ area where we cooked a steak dinner last night:

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The view from our balcony:

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The kitchen, living room and loft area:

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To be continued...​
 
After checkout, we all said our goodbyes, and Dillon and I decided to go explore the world famous Banff Springs Hotel with Seth before starting the drive back home. I have been several times in my life, but Dillon had only been to Banff once, and hadn't seen the hotel. Plus it made for some nice picture opportunities with Seth!

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Cool lighting in the hallways:

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Seth loving an aquarium in one of the hallways:

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The view from the outside terrace:

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My favourite photo of the weekend:

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After exploring a bit of the hotel, we took a short walk down to the Bow Falls to take a peek:

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Well that's it for our little mini-trip. It was so much fun, and I loved being able to take Seth with us to join in on the fun. Can't wait for some more family trips! :) Hope you enjoyed our little break in the TR. Now back to the regular program...​
 
Love it!! Especially you guys in your jackets, snow on the hills and then seeing people in the pool.:rotfl:
 
Haha, yes, that is a funny sight, isn't it! The pools are heated, but it's definitely chilly for any body parts that aren't under water! :)
 
So my TR will have to wait until tonight. I ended up getting called in for a temp job today (hopefully longer), and so that is where I am now. For today I am just answering phones though, so they said just to browse the net. So that's what I am doing for the day! Just no access to my photos to post for the TR though. At least I get to sit at a really cool desk! I will see if I can at least post a photo of that later!
 
And now I have to take a trip to Banff! Wow! Incredibly beautiful. And yay for Chili's...one of my favorite places too (love their buffalo ranch chicken sandwich)! Yum, I see a Chili's night in our future soon :)
 















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