Our Disney Trip to Sara-topia! Sept/Oct MNSSHP & F&W trip(link to dining review 11/1)

[jecskc]

So I have been out of town for the last several days. My tennis team made it to the State Championships which is in Charleston. We had a complete blast and made it all the way to the semi-finals where we lost in a tiebreaker. I really needed some time away with just the girls and the weather was absolutely beautiful !!



Day Seven – Part Eleven (wow – this is a really long day)

OK. So we left off with us enjoying the High Rock Springs Pool at Saratopia. Here are some more photos.

The water was really refreshing and the kids loved the slide.

.

Taking photos was making me thirsty so DH went and got us a Mojito

DH rode the slide with the kids while I chilled on a lounger. I really like this place. Definitely coming back here. I got a Planter’s punch and drank that. We hung out for about an hour and a half and then headed back for a shower and to get ready for dinner.

The plan was to eat at the Artist’s Palette for dinner. So we headed over there.

My DH is epitome of the Southern Gentleman. He ALWAYS holds the door for me.

DH and the kids got a table while I ordered. They had these little easels set up around so the kids could draw.

I thought that was nice touch.

The lights on the ceiling.

For dinner, DH and I shared the chicken toga wrap.

It was really good. The kids were disappointed that our meals didn’t come with French fries. But I really loved the chips. They were yummy and crunchy and salty. What's not to like ??

The kids each got chicken nuggets

They really liked the chicken. For dessert DH and I shared the carrot cake

DS got chocolate cake

And DD got worms in dirt.

All good. No complaints.

We cruised the gift shop. I wanted to get a journal I was looking at when we were at Wilderness Lodge. But, you guessed it, they didn’t have it. So we got some pins.

 

[jecskc]

Day 7 – Part Twelve

Some more photos after.

We went back to the room to rest. DS worked on his Lego set while DH, DD and I went down to walk along the water. There were some rockers there that you could sit in and enjoy the evening. This was a lovely evening. The humidity was gone and the temps were in the low 70’s. Perfect.

This where I again prove that I take lousy night photos.

We headed back to settle in for the night and apparently DS got a hold of the camera again. And he took photos of his Lego set.

We poured a glass of wine and headed out to the balcony where we were able to catch Illuminations AND Hallowishes !!! I seriously loved our room location !! And so this ends our super long day 7. Up Next – Magic Kingdom 40th Anniversary !!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Very nice Lego interlude! Those sets have gotten a lot more detailed since the big red bucket of Lego's I had!

That does sound like you guys had a great room location, how cool to be able to watch the fireworks from there!

 

[jecskc]

Very nice Lego interlude! Those sets have gotten a lot more detailed since the big red bucket of Lego's I had!

That does sound like you guys had a great room location, how cool to be able to watch the fireworks from there!

Legos really have gotten so cool. We still have the big bucket, but DS loves the sets. And so do I. But when he doesn't clean them up or the dog gets a hold of them, I don't love them so much. I have vacuumed up my fair share and they hurt like the dickens when you step on them. I would swear that he places them strategically around the house so I can step on them unsuspectedly.

Yes, if you ever stay there, ask for a room to the right side of Congress Park. Amazing fireworks view. DH remarked that our view of Hallowishes was better than the one we had at MK with the tree in the way.

 

[Poolrat]

A lovely evening indeed.

Artist's Palette - no fries -just chips - made a note, DS will notice that for sure.

Can't wait to hear your take on the 40th.

 

[jecskc]

A lovely evening indeed.

Artist's Palette - no fries -just chips - made a note, DS will notice that for sure.

Can't wait to hear your take on the 40th.

Or see if you are in any of my photos .... you know you will be looking. I'll post that later today.

 

[jecskc]

Day 8 – Part One – Saturday, October 1, 2011
Magic Kingdom’s 40th Anniversary !!

We had a little trouble getting going that morning and didn’t leave as early as I had wanted. We were supposed to meet one of my best friends (Pixie Princess here on the DIS) at Rope Drop, but we were running a little late and got stuck in the MOB at the front of the park. I took us about 20 minutes just to get in the parking lot. We didn’t enter the park until about 9:30 AM

We waited for DH to get through bag check

And we entered the park which seemed crazy busy. They were giving out pins at the entrance.

I texted BFF and she said they were in the hub, so we went to find her.

When we found her, we were really glad to see her and the kids were excited to see her DD. She said that there was supposed to be a parade and a special presentation, so I decided to wait with her. She had a big stash of pins and she let the kids pick one out that they could have.

The kids weren’t interested in the presentation, so DH took them all over to Tomorrowland while my BFF and I waited to see what would happen. It was nice to catch up with her for a little while without the kids interrupting. The weather this morning was amazing. High 60’s and NO humidity. Very enjoyable. You can see here how crowded the hub was.

There was character parade, but I’m short and there were people in front of us, so I didn’t get very good photos.

And the characters were always looking the other way.

After the parade, there was a presentation which I thought was kind of boring. But I stuck it out for a while thinking my BFF was finding it interesting.

There was a marching band that came out and played a couple of songs. There was some Disney execs introducing each other and talking, talking, talking. And I couldn’t really hear them. BFF turned to me and said she was kinda underwhelmed and we decided to meet DH and the kids.

 

[Poolrat]

I was probably about 1000 people or 20 feet to your right.

If you saw the little girl in the street with I guess her Dad and the PP, she was pretty much right in front of me.

 

[jecskc]

I was probably about 1000 people or 20 feet to your right.

If you saw the little girl in the street with I guess her Dad and the PP, she was pretty much right in front of me.

I couldn't see much of anything, really. It was just so crowded. Most of the photos I got were me holding my camera up and randomly clicking. It sucks to be short sometimes .....

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

WOW that is a ton of people there!!! What a cool experience to be there, but I would have been so stressed about all the people!

 

[jecskc]

WOW that is a ton of people there!!! What a cool experience to be there, but I would have been so stressed about all the people!

They were all in the hub, really. Once the presentation was over, MK was crowded but it wasn't too bad. It was neat to be there. I really wanna be there at the 50. Now THAT will be a crowd, I bet.

 

[jecskc]

Day 8 – Part Two

When we met up with DH and the kids, they had already ridden Astro Orbiter, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear and the Blue Train with no wait. We decided to ride Buzz Lightyear again.

BFF’s DD

The kids after the ride in jail with Zurg.

Escaping ….

After that DD needed some popcorn. Snack credits not working there, either. Had to pay OOP. Seriously annoyed by this !!

DS got a Root Beer Float

And we headed towards the teacups. BFF offered to ride with the kids while I went to the gift shop to exchange a shirt that didn’t fit. While they were riding, BFF got this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1atkwsPr6Oc

Which I really love.

We headed towards Liberty Square.

DH snagged us some FP’s for Peter Pan and we all went to ride Haunted Mansion.

It was fun riding with my BFF. We pointed out things to each other that neither of us had noticed before.

After that, BFF and her DD had to leave because she was invited to a Mom’s panel lunch at Epcot. I was really bummed that she was leaving, but I understood . She has been trying to get on the Mom’s Panel for years, so I didn’t want her to miss it. She said it was really cool. Here’s a photo of us before she left.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

How annoying that the snack credits continued to not work! That video from the teacups is so fun! I'm a bit dizzy now from watching it

 

[jecskc]

How annoying that the snack credits continued to not work! That video from the teacups is so fun! I'm a bit dizzy now from watching it

Did you notice that DS is just sitting back and letting the girls do all of the work ?? I can't do the spinny rides.

 

[jecskc]

Day 8 – Part Three

After she left, we rode BTMRR and hurried over to Tony’s for our noon ADR for lunch.

We were seated outside and since it was such a gorgeous day, we didn’t mind.

We had a good view and it was fun to people watch. I don’t remember our waitress’s name but she was really nice and did a good job.

DH and I ordered the zucchini fries as an appetizer.

We really liked these !! We got DS to try one and he was horrified when we told him what it was. He liked it until we told him. Whatever. We are trying so hard to get them to try new things and like veggies. It is slow, but we are making progress.

Some more photos of our view.

The Celebrate parade went by, but this CM with the balloons was blocking our view the whole time.

Cute Halloween decorations

DD and DS ordered Mickey ravioli.

DD didn’t eat much but DS ate all of his and the rest of DD’s. They both said that they were good, but not as good as the ravioli at the Italy F&W booth.

I had the baked ziti

I liked it and ate it all. The bread was good, too.

DH got the Chicken Parmesan

He liked it a lot, but wished it had more sauce. Mine had lots of sauce, so I gave him some of mine.

For dessert DS got vanilla gelato.

DD got an ice cream sundae

DH got the cheesecake of the day. Which was apple pie or spice or something.

He said it was really good.

I got the ice cream bomb.

It was really good, too !!

At this point, it was about 1:30 PM and DS and I were just exhausted. All of those days of walking were just catching up to us. But DD really wanted to ride Peter Pan, so DH took her to ride while DS and I did some shopping at the Emporium. I wanted to find the journal that I was looking for.

And I found it !! Here’s the front.

And the back.

And the inside

We met back up with DH and DD and went to the confectionary to burn some snack credits. DD got a cookie and DS got one of those tubes of sugar.

After that, we headed back to Saratopia and DH took the kids to the pool while I took a shower and did some laundry and packed up because sadly, this was our last night there. DH came back and we watched football and the kids took a nap.

 

[Poolrat]

I couldn't see much of anything, really. It was just so crowded. Most of the photos I got were me holding my camera up and randomly clicking. It sucks to be short sometimes .....

at 5'2" I know how you feel. But I have used the excuse to stand in front of someone tall since I don't really block thier view.

I have several tall people put me in front of them for that reason.



The closest we were to each other proabably was at the hub. Hopefully our paths wil cross again and close enoughto say Hi.

 

[jecskc]

at 5'2" I know how you feel. But I have used the excuse to stand in front of someone tall since I don't really block thier view.

I have several tall people put me in front of them for that reason.



The closest we were to each other proabably was at the hub. Hopefully our paths wil cross again and close enoughto say Hi.

I am 5'-3" so I feel your pain. There was a really nice lady in front of us in an ECV and we were standing behind her. And then some people stood in front of her so we couldn't see very well. I thought it was rude for them to stand in front of her. She was so nice. I think people get excited and don't realize they are being rude sometimes.

I will still look for us in your photos I do hope to meet you sometime

 

[jecskc]

Day 8 – Part Four

After a while, we decided to head to Downtown Disney to eat at Wolfgang Puck’s Express again. When we got there ….. DTD was PACKED. We couldn’t find a place to park ANYWHERE. Seriously, it was nuts. DH dropped us off and we went to get a place in line while he went to find a place to park. He said he had to park waaaaayyyyy down at Cirque du Soleil. In hindsight, it would have made better sense to just walk from Saratoga, but we were just soo tired.

Anyway, the kids and I ordered and grabbed a table and he got there just was the food was coming out.

DD and DS ordered the chicken nuggets.

They said they were yummy.

DH and I split the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

This was REALLY good !! And definitely plenty for two people.

For dessert, DD got another brownie

DS got the same cookie as before and DH and I shared the cheesecake again. I didn’t get photos because the camera crapped out on me again. We really like Wolfgang Puck’s Express !! I want to try their breakfast sometime.

After dinner, we decided to head over to Goofy’s Candy Store to burn some snack credits. I managed to get one more photo

And then the camera quit on me. I got a couple of bags of candy for the kids and decided to call it a night. DH said he would hoof it back to the car and come back and get us. And we waited and waited and waited. And finally, we got back to the resort, where we packed up some more and watched football and went to sleep.

Up next, our last day and Hollywood Studios.

 

[jecskc]

Day 9 – Part One. Sunday, October 2, 2011.

Sadly, this day was our last day. We woke up at 8:00 AM and started to pack up the car. We checked out and DD got a crown from the same nice man that checked us in. Here she is wearing it.

We got to Hollywood Studios about 10 AM. It was pretty busy.

We got a Photopass photo.

We headed towards Toy Story Mania

DD really wanted to ride it but the wait was an hour and the fast pass return time was 5:00 PM and we had not planned on staying that late. We asked DD if she wanted to wait that long and she said no. So we decided to skip it this trip.

I had had a bagel back at the room, but the others had not had breakfast yet. So we headed over to the Writer’s Stop to get some coffee and burn the last of our snack credits.

DS got a cupcake

He said it was just OK.

And DH and I shared the carrot cake cookie

I really liked this !! Very good !!

DD wanted ice cream so DH took her to get one. Hey, it was vacation. Let them eat what they want.

We stopped and got some photos

Then we rode Star Tours

The wait was about 15 minutes. I like the new ride, but it really makes me motion sick. So I think I will sit this one out next time.

I do like at the end where they say "Thank you for riding Star Tours, buh bye"

We headed back towards the Hat. DD spotted Pluto and Goofy with no line so we got photos with them.

 

[Poolrat]

Sunday was nice huh? The weather had really cooled down and the humidity was low. AAHHHH My favorite time.


I looked back at my pictures and I was at DHS from about 10 :20 - 12:20. I was hitting all four parks that day, taking care of the things I didn't get to do.

I went in and hit TSM- Ed was working and I got some Pixie dust. Then OMD and the IJ show and then I was out and over to EPCOT.