Our *outstanding* 8th trip to WDW!! (Photo's Added!!)

[KelBelle2]

Hello, I'm new here. I have been reading your TR and I just had to tell you I have been laughing the whole time. I love your writing style... Keep it coming!

 

[jonestavern]

Enjoyng the scintillating golf commentary!

Remember it's not if you win or lose, it's how you cheat (when necessary) to win the game!

Yes, we are very competitive, too!

Thanks for all the pics!


Jean

 

[Dizneyholic]

Hello, I'm new here. I have been reading your TR and I just had to tell you I have been laughing the whole time. I love your writing style... Keep it coming!

Welcome to the Dis KelBelle 2!! Thanks for the comments!!

Enjoyng the scintillating golf commentary!

Remember it's not if you win or lose, it's how you cheat (when necessary) to win the game!

Yes, we are very competitive, too!

Thanks for all the pics!


Jean

Lol. Yeah, Gus and I are really competitve too, even with each other! And he'd never admit it but I caught him nudging his ball into the hole a few times!!

 

[Dizneyholic]

Day 4: Eating our way thru Epcot

Amazingly we manage to make it through the turnstiles by 10:15ish am!! Yay us!!

After we posed for the paparazzi, I made the serious mistake of stopping to get a park map. Apparently at that moment I lost some "dis cred" as I showed weakness by needing a park map!! And yeah, I really didn't need one but it was there and had pretty colors so I just had to have one for my very own. Next, we decide we must check out Spaceship Earth asap and of course my wonderful SO very smugly suggests I consult my map for the best route....hahahahaha, very funny. This continues for much of the morning until I sweetly rip the map from his condescending grip and kindly toss it in the trash.

We end up waiting about 20 minutes or so before getting on Spaceship Earth. Not bad considering it's not even officially open yet but it is the longest we have ever waited for this attraction! I won't spoil anything for anyone by going into detail but for the most part we liked the changes and felt the attraction wasn't truly compromised in anyway.

After this we headed straight into my favorite store, The Art of Disney! 15 minutes later I had already spent close to $15,000!!! Ok, you got me...I was only imagining that I could really take all that stuff home but it was a fun game. However, I did witness one couple buy a limited $5,000 Mickey & Walt oil painting!! I did have a moment of jealous rage but managed to get it under control and exit the store before anyone got hurt.

Secret new attraction at Epcot...

The Great Gusdini!!


I really wanted to do some more attractions but my stomach had another idea and it went something like "eat crepe now!!!" lol. However, we needed to have lunch first and decided to try Sunshine Seasons at the Land. Upon walking thru the door, the place was packed!! I have never seen so many peeps in there at one time. Gus said it best when he claimed it looked like an ant farm!!
Before eating we went over to where Soarin' is to inquire about the Behind the Seeds tour. We were told the next one would be in less than an hour so we reserved our spots ($30ish w/DVC discount) and hurried over to scarf down some food. I choose the 2 entree/2 side items (Sweet & Sour Chicken, Spicy Beef, Rice & Broccoli) from the Asian station and Gus went with 1/2 Chicken plate from another station. For dessert I picked a triple chocolate mousse cake and Gus went with the Strawberry Shortcake. Everything was pretty much what you would expect from counter service. It wasn't the greatest but far from the worst we have had. I prefer the counter service in World Showcase a bit more and would probably just stick to that on future trips.

The Tour:
We checked back at the tour desk just in time and our guide claimed we were one of her biggest groups yet. When we headed off there was close to 20 of us. We were first asked to fill out a name tag and stick it on our shirt. Next we headed out an employee only door located in the exit queue for Soarin'. We then entered a lab were they showed us a brief video and played with some creepy crawlies. As not to completely ruin the tour for everyone else, here is a short photo summary...

Gus, just moments before infiltrating the Greenhouse!

Yummmm, how about a orange carnation pizza....

Awww, they let us hold the baby Mickeykin!

Cinderella's pumpkin coach in the making...

Where's the chocolate waterfall, snozzberries and these guys... hehe

Baby pineapple...

Behind the Seeds...

The tour lasted about 75 minutes and we learned all kinds of interesting tidbits that you will just have to find out yourself by taking the tour! lol.
Overall, it was fun just to be walking around in the greenhouse and see everyone in the boats wondering how you got in there!! There was lots of time to take pictures and ask questions so if you even remotely enjoy riding Living with the Land I would suggest taking this tour. You can't beat the price. However, for us it was pretty much a one time thing. Although, we'd do it again it changed over the years.

After the tour we had to ride Living with the Land since now we had to rehash all the stuff we just saw but this time from the boat. lol. There was no wait and we were on and off pretty quickly.

The line for Soarin' was at least a week long so we decided to skip it since we have one here in Cali. We spent the next few hours strolling around World Showcase. The first thing we did was use a snack credit to pacify my angry stomach by feeding it a warm strawberry crepe!! Ummm, yummmm!!!! Next we headed over to Boulangerie Patisserie bakery where Gus had a Ham & Cheese croissant!! More yummmm!!! And no trip to France would be complete without a visit to Impressions De France (which I adore). Not only is the film outstanding and the music beautiful but more importantly...you get to sit down!!! Magnifique!!

Full of various foods we now need a minute to sit and digest. Since I love the Beatles and have never seen the British Invasion we decide to grab a bench and catch the show. We were about 20 minutes early and no one else was there. I was convinced we'd be the only ones. However, by the time they came on, there was about least 50 or 60 people standing around. We couldn't believe our eyes when the 30ish girl in front of us starting crying like they were the real thing!! They were in fact, very Beatleish and we had a great time singing along to all the songs. They wrapped it up after about 20 minutes and some how we found the will to journey on...

We had about an hour until our 7pm ADR at Marrakesh so we just walked around for a bit and did some shopping in Japan.

We were seated right away for dinner and let me say, this place was slammed. They were turning lots of people away so if you didn't already have an ADR you were out of luck.

Anyway, we waited a loooonnnnngggg time until someone even acknowledged we were sitting there. I swear, it was at least 20 minutes. When she finally did come she very quickly took our order and left zero wiggle room for questions. I ordered the: Shish Kebab - grilled tenderloin of beef marinated in Moroccan herbs and spices and Gus went with the: Roast Lamb Meshoui - roasted lamb in natural juices. It took another 20 minutes to get our food and after 40 minutes they still had no dancer or music. We were kinda bummed since we mainly came for the ambience. Eventually the belly dancer did come out with the band but only for about 15 minutes. To be honest, we both agreed that the food was overprice and if we hadn't been on the dining plan this would have been a very poor value.
Neither of us were crazy about our dishes. Even our dessert was just average. I had the: Bastilla - crispy leaves of pastry topped with vanilla cream and sprinkled with toasted almonds and Gus had the: Moroccan Symphony - Assorted pastries. We probably won't go back here for quite a while. There are just way to many great places for us to settle for poor service and average, overpriced food. But that's just our humble opinion.

Right after dinner we caught Illuminations...reflections of earth (am I the only one that has to say this every single time someone says Illuminations!!)

It was extra magic hours, so we got our wristbands and headed off to see the new O'Canada film. Other than having to stand, it was good!! We then headed over to The Seas with Nemo & Friends and ended our night by finding Nemo and talking to the Crush man!! I like turtles!!

Then it was off to bed...finally!!!

Next Up: Boardwalk, Boating & Baked Goods!!!

 

[tksbaskets]

Great installment I love your writing style...did you really throw your park map away?? I save them for my scrapbook. They really change over the years. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it ) Looking forward to Boardwalk!

 

[Dizneyholic]

Great installment I love your writing style...did you really throw your park map away?? I save them for my scrapbook. They really change over the years. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it ) Looking forward to Boardwalk!

Thanks!!! I actually did throw it away but I ususally bring some fresh ones back with me from each trip! I like to save them as well!!

 

[BeeBopp]

Really enjoying your TR! Keep them coming!

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

AKL is the best. It is my favorite along with Poly.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

OMG! I'm really enjoying your trip report! Your too funny! Can't wait for more!

 

[KelBelle2]

Sweet! We love baked goods! Bring it on...

 

[MeLaNie9]

I'm loving your report. You guys are too cute and look like you're having such a great time! We are considering AKL for our next trip. We also love to eat our way around WS!

 

[Dizneyholic]

I'm loving your report. You guys are too cute and look like you're having such a great time! We are considering AKL for our next trip. We also love to eat our way around WS!

Thanks!! I highly recommend AKL...it was great!! Where else are you considering?

BTW, we love How I Met Your Mother!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

I am totally enjoying your TR! I wasn't an AKL fan before but your pics have convinced me to try it for my trip next year with the kids. I still haven't taken my youngest 2 (they haven't caught the "bug" yet but after showing them your pics of AKL, they are finally asking to go!

Can't wait to read more .....

 

[Dizneyholic]

I am totally enjoying your TR! I wasn't an AKL fan before but your pics have convinced me to try it for my trip next year with the kids. I still haven't taken my youngest 2 (they haven't caught the "bug" yet but after showing them your pics of AKL, they are finally asking to go!

Can't wait to read more .....

That's great!! I'm glad I could help. They are gonna love it!!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

ok...........cmon back were readddddddyyy

 

[BrittBritt]

Love the shirt Gus was wearing in EPCOT. Your description of your mini-golf competition was hysterical, and, yes, I think I could have read an entire hole-by-hole (don't laugh Gus) recap of the match! Thank goodness you were able to sneak in at least one seat-warming surprise. You have a great writing style. Looking forward to more...

 

[Katy Belle]

Love your photos and storytelling style! Looking forward to the rest.
Katy

 

[RachelNinja]

Love it! I was just at Disney last week. My mom and I wanted to do the tour for Living the Land! Thanks for giving me that brief taste

 

[Dizneyholic]

Sorry for the delay...again! I had a date for the Oscar's last night and today was the always dreadful chore day!! This is the first chance I've had since completing Day 4. BTW, Gus was my date and we attended the event right here in our very own living room!! hehe

Day 4: Boardwalk, Boating & the Bakery!

We stayed up the night before watching Groundhog Day in our room. I had never seen it and Gus really liked it back in the day so he brought it along in case we got bored. Yeah, I know...bored??? At WDW!!

Anyhow, we decided to sleep in so no wake up Stitch to greet us. Being that it was Saturday, we purposely didn't plan to spend this day in the parks. We try our best to avoid the more crowded times. Although, nowadays I think that's impossible.

We finally head out to lunch around 11:30am. Our plan is to hit up Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. When we arrive there is hardly anyone there and we have our pick of tables. For anyone that hasn't been there, it works like this...you check in at the front counter where a hostess seats you. Basically, there are several food stations on the right side of the seating area and you roam freely amongst them to select your food. They have everything from Mexican to soup & salad. Most items are cooked to order so the food tends to be better than just your average food court.
When you're first seated, you're given a stamp card and you present this card to whichever food station you choose and they stamp it with the item you've ordered. You also do this for your dessert or any side item you might want. When you're finished you just take the card to the exit and pay. We think it's one of the best dining plan counter service values there is!! Between us both we spent about $55.00. There is also supposed to be a 10% service fee that I assumed we would pay out of pocket since tips are no longer included but they did not add it on either of the times we ate there. When I asked, they just said it was taken care of. Of course, we still left a tip! Gus and I both had the Steak quesadilla served with black beans and rice. For dessert we both at an Apple Turnover. We found them both to be above average for counter service and vowed to come back again before we left.

It was raining when we headed over to Boardwalk but for the longest time Gus has wanted to rent a boat and we weren't about to let a little rain stop us!! However, as we're walking to the rental counter we passed the bakery and I was instantly sucked right in the door!!

Once inside this found me....

At $4 a piece this was a great use of a snack credit so I claimed him all for myself and took him outside where I felt a moment of guilt as I dismembered his tasty head piece by piece!! First, I ate his delicious chocolate fudgey coated ears. The whole time his judgmental little mouse face looking up at me like, "don't you know who I am??" I thought about telling him how bad I felt but as Gus pointed out...he wouldn't be able to hear me since I just ate his ears!!! So, I just quickly gobbled up all the rest of him before any remorse could set in!
BTW, he was moist buttery white cake with melted rainbow sprinkles on the inside and a rich milk chocolate icing with a white chocolate candy face. I can't wait to eat him again!! They also had all kinds of other great looking desserts! There seemed to be something for everybody!

Next, we headed over to Bayside Marina. There was hardly anyone out so we mostly had the whole place to ourselves. We felt a little silly when we asked the cast member if we could still rent a boat. However, she told us we were her third that afternoon so obviously we weren't the only crazy ones out that day.
We inquired about the price and found that it was the same price to rent the more spacious Pontoon Boat as it was to rent the smaller Whaler so we went for the bigger one! Duh! (Both are $45 per 1/2 hour but discounts are available). We planned on going out for an hour if the weather allowed!

Our Boat...

I have to admit I was a little nervous. I've seen Gus drive and this was much bigger than our car!! Not to mention, he's has trouble following the rules!! Everytime we get on a Segway he likes to push the limits!!! However, the dock crew reassured me that it was a piece of cake and reminded Gus of the rules! So, they untie us and off we go! Godspeed...

View of the Boardwalk as we're leaving the dock

The Lovin' It Skipper Gus

View of the Dolphin Resort from boat

So, we're just crusin' along and despite the weather it's quite fun!! Of course, Gus is already complaining the boat goes to slow!! It's a PONTOON boat not a Sea Racer!! Jeeez! What did you expect???

Speed Racer...

The water way goes to the Studio's and back so they reminded us to stay out of the way of the various water taxis before we left. About 7 minutes in we have to pull over to the side as to avoid one and I was afriad we were going to beach our boat!! The channel isn't very wide and you have no clue exactly where the taxi's are gonna go!

The waterway behind me...

A few seconds later we notice a red boat trailing not to far behind us and it's the water police!! ::cop: We just assume he is out doing his thing but soon notice he remains close behind us wherever we go. We now realize we are being babysat!!

So, we go all the way to MGM...oops...the Disney Hollywood Studios and just put the boat in idle and hang out there taking some pictures and looking around. We also notice a water taxi getting ready to leave DHS so we try and wait it out. Not two seconds later the water police comes over and asks us what we're doing? We explain we are just hanging out and waiting to follow safely behind the taxi. And even though we're at least a few yards from the taxi he says we're right in it's backup path and we need to move. We preceed to just head back the way we came but now another taxi is coming the opposite way from the Boardwalk. So, we again pull over to the side to let both of them pass. A few seconds later the taxi from DHS heads straight for us!! WTH?? So, we head back towards the middle and just book it back to the Boardwalk area. Not more than 5 minutes later the police guy stops us again and tells us our motor is falling off... or something like that. He asks us to pull closer to the wall and he'll fix it. After he does this we are free to go.
We circle around in front of the Boardwalk and realize we just aren't feeling this anymore and decide to head in early. We only end up being out there for less than 25 (somewhat stressful) minutes and the total was around $40 bucks with our DVC discount. Later that day we decided we really enjoyed taking the boat out but just didn't like the area!! Next time will try again from the Wilderness Lodge Marina!

We took the long way back to the Boardwalk...

We stopped a long the way at the Beach Club for a game of ping-pong where Gus totally kicked my butt. In my defense, the table was wet!!

We have an 8:00pm ADR for Yachtman's Steakhouse and need to kill a few hours so we head over to Fantasia Gardens to continue our mini-golf off!
As we pull out of Boardwalk Gus makes a right and I sweetly remind him that FG is to the left. He very confidently claims it's to the right and I quickly reply he's confused and we should have made a left. He then does the ever so manly tactic of ignoring me and continues on his merry way.
Eventually, we turn down the same road we were originally on and pull into FG. I hold my ground and state that we should go back my way to dinner just to prove my point. Gus exclaims there is no way it's the shorter route and to end the argument we agree to actually track the mileage both ways after our golf off. I can hardly contain my excitement when I realize I get to redeem myself at mini-golf and prove him wrong all in the same day!!

Tomorrow: Day 5: Part 2 Who won? Who lost? And was dinner all kinds of yummm or never again....

 

[tksbaskets]

Once inside this found me....

At $4 a piece this was a great use of a snack credit so I claimed him all for myself and took him outside where I felt a moment of guilt as I dismembered his tasty head piece by piece!! First, I ate his delicious chocolate fudgey coated ears. The whole time his judgmental little mouse face looking up at me like, "don't you know who I am??" I thought about telling him how bad I felt but as Gus pointed out...he wouldn't be able to hear me since I just ate his ears!!! So, I just quickly gobbled up all the rest of him before any remorse could set in!
BTW, he was moist buttery white cake with melted rainbow sprinkles on the inside and a rich milk chocolate icing with a white chocolate candy face. I can't wait to eat him again!! They also had all kinds of other great looking desserts! There seemed to be something for everybody!

.... He very confidently claims it's to the right and I quickly reply he's confused and we should have made a left. He then does the ever so manly tactic of ignoring me and continues on his merry way.

You are cracking me up. I was gafawing out loud with your description of eating Mickey especially the part where he couldn't hear you any more!

Oh, my DH has the same driving style as yours