Our April Adventure - F&G, AKV, birthday celebration - and more!

[apr9twins]

Hello all! Welcome to my very first trip report. I'm a longtime lurker and have enjoyed reading everyone's reports -thought I'd give it a try.

This was a trip that took a while for us to plan, our last trip was between Christmas and New Years going into 2015 and I think we were all left a bit shell shocked from the insane crowds....had to have time to recover...you know, so we could go during that really slow Easter and Spring Break time frame.

Here's the cast of characters:



It's so much fun to spend time at Disney World with someone who enjoys it as much as I do (and lucky for us, the kids love it too!) I think that my dh's favorite character is Baloo, favorite park is MK, favorite ride is Haunted Mansion. My favorite character is Mickey, favorite park is MK, and favorite ride is Expedition Everest.


Our kids - one year away from driving. DS is with me in the Expedition Everest camp, and his favorite character is Donald Duck. (he loves ducks in general. When I downloaded everyone's pics after the trip, the only pictures on his phone were of ducks...) DD’s favorite ride, hands-down, is Haunted Mansion, and favorite character is Marie. I think they would both pick MK as their favorite park.

We could not have asked for a better week - we were finally back 'home', it wasn't super crowded, the weather was amazing, we had ADRs for some of our favorites and a couple new places, FP+ reservations secured, magic bands in place - and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Stay tuned for-

• Planning - when to go and how to get there
• The drive down and arriving at Pop Century for 1 night
• Grand Floridian Easter eggs and MK day 1
• Easter - Boma breakfast, Epcot, F&G and Via Napoli
• MK day 2, Skipper Canteen, and Hoop Dee Doo
• Hollywood Studios, bad feet, and trading with the Jawas
• Animal Kingdom, Tusker House and Rivers of Light
• MK day 3 and dinner at 'Ohana
• Epcot, more F&G and dinner at Sanaa
• ...heading home...

 

[apr9twins]

Final planning stages…

We had booked our traditional 7 night stay at the 11 month mark – 1 bedroom villa, savannah view, Jambo house. It’s what we know and love, and we are creatures of habit. We usually leave at 4 am on a Friday to start the 13 hour drive to Florence, SC Then finish up the drive on Saturday morning and check in around 1:30-ish...and get into the MK around 4 or 5.
I had been thinking a lot about trying to leave on Thursday after the kids got out of school and starting the drive then, then having a long day on Friday – and arriving at WDW on Friday night! We’d have a full day on Saturday - it would be awesome! And when I suggested it – they all just sort of sat there. I was expecting-

and instead, got...

It was very strange. So, I held off on making the Florence hotel reservations for Friday night. (‘cause I didn’t want to stay there!)
After much discussion (I honestly don’t know what the hesitation was), I finally made them see the light…wisdom in my words, etc. Yay!

About a week and half before we left I book us at PopCentury for Friday night – we were so excited!

The last item to wrestle with was what vehicle we were going to be driving on our journey. We have a Chevy Suburban that we affectionately call Clifford (the big red Suburban) – and we have had many wonderful trips in Clifford. It’s awesome – each child gets their own seat, tons of space for all our gear in the back, etc. It’s like driving a living room. But alas – Clifford is not in any shape to drive to Florida. We asked the mechanic what he thought – would the truck make it? He laughed out loud. It was actually pretty funny. So – that would be NO?

And that leaves…the blueberry. Our other vehicle is a Kia Sorrento – which is just fine for driving back and forth to work, grocery, school – but there is almost no leg room in the back seat…and DS is 6’2”. In the end, the kids decided that they would survive, we moved the driver’s seat up a smidge, and DS was awesome. A week before we left, we got a screw through one of the rear tires and had to get 2 new ones – always a good time right before going on vacation.

So, we got the car situated, hotel reservations made, laundry done, pet care arranged, house cleaned, bags packed



We picked up the kids from school, stopped at the house to quickly drop off back packs, and we were on our way!

 

[apr9twins]

Let the Adventure begin…

We left the driveway at about 2:30 on 4/13 and headed south on 81. Pennsylvania was (as per usual) the state of constant construction, but we really didn’t lose a lot of time to that. We arrived at the Hampton Inn in Staunton VA around 10 pm. It was a great hotel – easy to find, gas station nearby, very clean and quiet (liked it so much we stayed there on our way back home…) and they had a free breakfast that started at 6 the next morning. We were on the road again by 7...had about 12 hours of driving ahead…lost some time due to accidents, construction, etc. but our final destination makes it worth it!!



We arrived at Pop Century around 7:45. We wound up booking a second room (there was just no way the 4 of us were going to fit into 2 double beds).

We had never been to Pop before, so after parking the car we wandered around, trying to figure out what building we were in. It was a great way to check out the resort and see all the amazing theming. We really had a great time – and it was just so awesome to finally be in Florida!








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[apr9twins]

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We finally found our rooms and they were just right. Great for two of us to share!











We dropped our overnight bags off and headed out to find the food court. It was pretty busy, but very fun to try something new. The size of the whole thing was amazing to me, it was sort of overwhelming. We just stood in the middle for a while trying to figure out what each station had, and finally we all figured out what we wanted.

DH (can't have dairy) and I got a great pre-packaged meal – falafel chips, hummus, and veggies. It was really good, and exactly what we were looking for. (..and beer…and I got a cheesecake!)



DS got what I think was the eggs benedict burger – it was huge! (and I’m pretty sure he ate every bite), and worms in dirt for dessert.



DD got a simple turkey sandwich, chocolate milk and worms in dirt, and she was very happy with it.



After we ate, we walked over to Art of Animation and wandered around there, and then finished looking at Pop.





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[apr9twins]

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We had so much fun walking around Art of Animation!














We were getting tired and decided to walk back to Pop on the path around the lake.







We finally got back to the rooms around 11:30. We got cleaned up, I got caught up with my trip journal, and we were asleep by midnight. It had been a really long day - but so much fun!

The adventure continues...

 

[apr9twins]

Saturday 4/15 - We were able to sleep in a bit, but were excited to start our day, so we packed up and drove over to Jambo House around 9:30. We’ve been DVC members since 2008 and have stayed there several times – but I still tear up when I walk into the lobby. I just love it. It truly feels like I am at home – there’s a comfortable peace about it and I just feel so happy there. (and that’s just the lobby! )



After we got checked in, and the kids got their birthday pins, we went down to the Mara to get some breakfast. The dairy free options were fairly limited for DH, but he found oatmeal, sausage and soy milk for his coffee, so he was happy. I think he got some raisins and brown sugar for the oatmeal too, which jazzed it up a bit. The kids and I got the croissant sandwiches – theirs with sausage and mine with bacon. DS tried the banana bread also, and he loved it!




After breakfast we headed out to the bus stop to make our way to the Grand Floridian to see the Easter eggs.



We had never seen the Easter egg display before, and knew that it was only going to be available through Tuesday, so we waved at the MK entrance as we walked by on our way to the monorail.


waiting for the monorail...

I’m so happy that we made time to stop and see this. What an amazing amount of work and talent!








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[apr9twins]

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More Easter eggs at the Grand Floridian








I love the detail of the spaghetti bowl on this one.











There were so many others, and they were all stunning.

We had a great time wandering around the Grand Floridian, but it was time to get ourselves to the Magic Kingdom! We went back upstairs and through the security bag check at the monorail entrance. I really liked it this way, with the security screening after you get off the busses, and before getting onto the monorail – it was so nice to then just walk up to the entrance of the park, scan your magic band – and in you go!

Next up - Magic Kingdom!

 

[Spacecow]

Loving your report so far! I didn't know that the Grand Floridian had an easter egg display, they're all so well done. Excited to read more

 

[apr9twins]

And thank you for following along!

 

[apr9twins]

Magic Kingdom!



All the planets were aligned for us, and we wound up walking in just as the Festival of Fantasy parade was coming around the corner into Town Square. (I’d love to say that it was all part of my master plan…but that’s not the case in this instance.) It was perfect timing! I absolutely love this parade. The costumes, music, the uplifting atmosphere.. everything! I was so excited I was totally overwhelmed and just took pictures, and cried, and hummed along – I was kind of a mess, but I was beside myself with happiness. To finally be back in the MK with my family, the wonderful parade, the gorgeous weather, etc… It was truly magical. Hopefully this makes sense!


After the parade, we walked over to the Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom area and got new packs of cards, and a refresher on what we were supposed to do. The kids really had fun playing that, and I love the cards – such a fun little souvenir.

We wandered over to the hat shop and for DH a new hat. (He didn’t want a baseball hat for some reason…got more of a sun hat. It looked nice for a while…but after a couple times of being squished into a cargo shorts pocket, it lost a little of its charm (and the decorative band that went around it) and then it just looked dopey…and he wound up buying a baseball hat!)

We took our time walking up Main Street and went into a few of the stores. In all the times I’ve been in the MK, I had never been in the Crystal Arts store, and I’m so glad I finally checked it out! What beautiful things they have in there. I could have easily spent the whole souvenir budget in there – but it was the first hour of the first day in the parks, I figured I should probably hold off.

By the time we got up to Casey’s DH was hungry and wanted to get a hot dog. While we waited for him (there was a really long line), we watched Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire, and I really enjoyed that. It was our first time seeing the updated hub – we loved all the new spaces! I had the kids pose with the Chip and Dale, and Donald brass statues. I love trying to take pictures with similar poses from previous trips. Makes me smile to see how much they’ve changed. -just noticed that he has the same hat on!


2010 2017


We headed over to Monster’s, Inc. Laugh Floor – we always have fun there. It makes me laugh that ‘move all the way over’ is said in just about every attraction/show with seating like that…and people still plop themselves down in the middle of a row and get all huffy when they’re told they have to move all the way over. I laugh every single time. Now, to give them the benefit of the doubt – maybe this is their very first time in any Disney park and they’ve never heard that before… maybe…

We rode the Peoplemover – really love that ride. Someday, I’d like to be there at a really slow time when they just let you keep riding it over and over… I know, I dream big… lol!


We then stopped and got cream cheese filled pretzels at the Lunching Pad, and then walked over to get a fuel rod battery charger over in the Space Mountain gift shop (all four phones were pretty much running on fumes). We rode Buzz Lightyear (pretty sure I’m one of the world’s worst space rangers…) and then wandered over to Mickey’s Philharmagic (another one of our faves).

Cinderella’s Coach was out and DD and I got our picture taken there. We rode Journey of the Little Mermaid, and then walked over to Jungle Cruise. We had a great skipper (Shelby) and she really had everyone laughing.


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[apr9twins]

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At some point they were all hungry and wanted to go to Casey’s, DD had to have the traditional first night in the MK corndog nuggets! I had decided that I really wanted to try the Sweet & Spicy chicken waffle sandwich. I read many great reviews of it, and had been thinking about it for a long time.


the sign taunted me... look how yummy...you'll never know...hahahaha!

And I waited in line…and waited in line…and I have no clue what the heck was going on, but the line Did. Not. Move. At all. –not just slow moving – it was not moving. And as I was waiting in line, I was watching our FP+ window for the mine train slowly close. So, I jumped out of line (starving at this point – not a happy camper) – and off to work we go!



Afterwards, I walked by Sleepy Hallow and the line was still crazy long, so I wound up at Liberty Square Market and got the world’s best dill pickle, and a turkey leg. Sadly, there are no pictures of the world’s best dill pickle – but honestly, if you like dill pickles, and you’re in the area – stop and get one. I had read a great thread about ‘overlooked snacks’ or something like that and someone (I am sorry that I don’t remember who it was) – posted about the pickles there and how good they were – crunchy, cold, juicy, salty – they hit all the right notes for me at that point! The turkey leg was good too.

DH and DS went to Aloha Isle to get Dole Whips (dairy free!) and my son was in heaven! He loves pineapple – and this totally made his night.

Last ride of the night was Big Thunder Mountain and it was a great way to end our day. It’s so much fun to ride that at night – what a great time!

It was time to make our way back to Jambo House, fortunately the line at the bus stop wasn’t too bad and we made it back fairly quickly. DH and the kids went to the car to retrieve all the pillows and whatever else we left out there, and I stopped at bell services and let them know we were ready for our luggage and Garden Grocer order. (absolutely loved the Garden Grocer experience – will definitely do that again). Took a few quick pics-







Bell services was super quick bringing the stuff up, I think they may have gotten to the room before the parking lot expedition got back!

We were all finally settled and asleep around midnight – it was a really long day, but such a good time! I’m so happy that we drove down early and were able to spend a whole Saturday soaking up the sunshine and Disney magic.

Next up – Boma and Epcot...

 

[scrappydew]

I am enjoying your report!

 

[apr9twins]

thank you for following along!! Next installment on its way

 

[apr9twins]

4/16/17 - Boma and Epcot

The Easter Bunny brought a few treats and put them in bowls from the kitchen with a paper towel liner…to make it look festive!


We are big Lego and Batman fans, so the EB brought Lego Batman minifigs for everyone.


It is amazing to me that the yellow/orange item displayed there is a mask.

We had an awesome breakfast at Boma (my favorite restaurant), as a special for Easter they added lamb to the carving station, peel & eat shrimp with delicious cocktail sauce, and an oreo cream delicious-ness on top of an oreo, and zebra domes at the dessert area – and wonderful mimosas. Everything was so good!


grilled tomatoes, turkey, avocado/grapefruit/papaya salad, scrambled eggs, bacon and tater tots


shrimp and cocktail sauce


French toast bread pudding, oreo awesomeness, and zebra dome


Mimosa

One of the chefs came out and walked DH through the whole buffet to let him know what he could and could not eat. It was great – there were many things he could have, and I think they brought him some dairy free pastries from the kitchen too.

After breakfast we went back up to the room and got our stuff for the parks and headed out to Epcot.

These towers of (what I think were) New Guinea impatiens were beautiful.



We got there around 11:00, and our first FP+ was at 11:30 for Spaceship Earth, so we wandered around for a while and I checked in at the photo center to make sure that all our magic bands were linked to the memory maker correctly (they were!).


Afterwards, we did some shopping in Mouse Gear. I was looking to see if there was a new Vera Bradley print that I liked (there wasn’t), and I was looking for an Easter trading pin – wouldn’t you think they would have them? They didn’t, and they referred me out to the Pin Central place near the fountain. (and when we got there later in the day, they then referred me to the pin cart in the US pavilion, and they referred me to the outpost…who referred me back to the pin cart, who referred me back to the pin central place…) -no pin! When we stopped at pin central, we bought one of the Easter egg maps to do the hunt around world showcase, and then we headed over to the Land pavilion to ride the new (to us) Soarin. Loved the new movie!

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[apr9twins]

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After Soarin, we stopped at 3 of the Flower & Garden food booths. First up was Urban Farm Eats.

We got the seared pork tenderloin with mushroom ragout, spring vegetables, and potatoes - yum! DH got a wildflower pale ale that he thought was OK.

The next stand we tried was Pineapple Promenade. DH and DS split a Spicy Hot dog with Pineapple Chutney and Plantain Chips, and I got the Frozen Dessert Violet Lemonade. I think they thought the hot dog was good, but bordering on too spicy for them. The lemonade was awesome – so refreshing, and such a beautiful shade of purple.



At the Berry Basket we got the Warm Berry Buckle with Pepper Berry Sorbet, and the Twinings Green Tea Berry Mint Julep. Both were very good!


After we had our snacks we walked over to Test Track and that was a lot of fun. We always compete (girls against boys) and see whose car will do the best – none of us know what we’re doing, but it’s just fun to try to design something fun.



After we got out of TT, we went over to Figment and rode that, and afterwards we went upstairs to the DVC lounge to check that out. I’m not sure what I was expecting – but I thought it would be a bit more…‘something’…exciting? Different furniture maybe? Something to do there? Who knows. So, we didn’t stay there long, and off we went to walk around World Showcase. (my favorite part of Epcot).

Between the food booths, the egg hunt, and checking out all the flower & garden displays, we really had a great time just wandering around each country. From what I remember, the weather was awesome – sunny, breezy and not too hot.




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[apr9twins]

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We started in Canada and stopped at the Northern Bloom booth and got the Seared Scallops with French Green Beans, Buttered Potatoes, Brown Butter Vinaigrette, and Applewood-smoked Bacon, also the Beef Tenderloin Tips, Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce, and Whipped Potatoes with Garden Vegetables – and the non-alcoholic Maple Popcorn Shake.




The scallops were good, the beef tenderloin tip dish was awesome, and we should have bought 3 of the shake…I’m not even sure if I got a taste of that. DS had it front of him, I think that DD got to try it, and then it was gone. Almost like a magic trick – now you see the shake, now you don’t.

We skipped the Cider House, but the lemon scone sounded tempting. We really enjoyed walking around in the shops in the UK though (and hunting for the egg). We are big Dr. Who and Sherlock fans, and the one store had a bunch of fun things for both shows. DD bought a Dr. Who sign - and it totally made her day (year!) that the very handsome guy at the register wished her a happy birthday. It was great! So – thank you to ‘Jaime the guy from England’ for the pixie dust of your wonderful accent, and kindness to my daughter.





Next up was France and that was an awesome stop. The kids wandered around looking for the egg, and once they found that DH and DS watched Serveur Amusant and thoroughly enjoyed that.

I stopped at the Fleur De Lys booth and got the Tarte a l’Onion Alsacienne, a Macaron Chocolat Framboise, and a La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush. I brought them all over and sat along the fountain in the shade. DD didn’t want to try the onion tart – so I ate the whole thing and it was delicious! (I did ask…) She had the macaron and loved every bite. The frozen slush was absolutely yummy. Loved it.



This whole stop turned in to one of those perfect moments you get every now and then that is like a picture in your mind. You can remember exactly where you’re sitting, noises, smells, who you’re with, etc. I want to have it preserved forever. Hopefully this makes sense to someone besides me!

Next up, more Epcot!

 

[cstorm65]

Enjoyed reading about your trip so far!

That breakfast at Boma looks great! We are going to have to try that for sure. I've still never had a Zebra Dome, will definitely have to make that a priority on our trip in a few weeks. I think you can get those at The Mara still, correct?

 

[apr9twins]

Thanks for following along!

Boma is so good - I have to eat breakfast and dinner there every trip. Even something so simple as the grilled tomato is delicious.

I am a big fan of zebra domes - hopefully you will like them too! when we were there they had them at the Mara in a take-out type container in the coolers near the bottled drinks. I think there were 4 in each pack.

 

[apr9twins]

Epcot - continued...

At this point, it was about 4:30 and we had 6:05 dinner reservations at Via Napoli. So – we stopped snacking in hopes that we would have some room for dinner. We had fun wandering along through Morocco, and Japan – looking for the eggs, shopping, etc.


It’s so relaxing to just take time and check stuff out. I find that there’s not a lot to do in the US pavilion (but I did ask about the Easter pin…) so we kept moving along towards Italy.



They had a hard time finding the egg in Italy, but eventually saw Goofy way up in the tower.



And then it was time for dinner! We were seated fairly quickly and had a great meal. We started with the arancini and the calamari. (forgot to take pics!) The arancini was good, and the calamari was delicious. We also got the family style salad (because DS and I ordered pizza) – and it was delicious too. It had leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato, mushrooms, peppers and olives with a red wine vinaigrette – very light and flavorful. DH ordered spaghetti with spicy sausage, and DD ordered spaghetti with meatballs – both dishes got two thumbs up.


You can see the remnants of the salad in this picture.

DS got a pizza with pepperoni and I got sausage and mushrooms – both were very good. (no pics…) There was a surprise cupcake and singing for DD for her birthday, and she was thrilled.



After dinner, we were really tired, and we headed through the rest of the countries (scouting out Easter eggs, and admiring topiaries on our way) and we were leaving just as Illuminations was starting.







It was such a fun day! Other times that we've visited, we've had a good time - but it might have been crazy crowded, or too hot, etc - but this was the perfect balance of everything and it was wonderful.

Up next - back to the MK, Skipper Canteen for lunch, and Hoop Dee Doo for dinner.