Peekaboo, I see Pluto! A 1st Birthday TR; Wrapping up PTR and TR 10/02!

[Missyrose]

These plans sound great! I think it's awesome that this will be a long enough trip to allow you to slow down and relax. You won't need to be commando bc you've got plenty of time, and anything you miss, you can hit when you go back in January!

I've heard great things about Basin... I will need to make it there at some point to try all the yummy bath goodness. And the GF is beautiful, I can't wait to see the pics that Frank-a-Lin will get!

I'm so excited to try a new pace at Disney. It will be so nice to take in the details, because you're right, we've got plenty of Disney time ahead of us!

Basin is such a yummy store, I had fun browsing while we waited for our table to be ready at Citricos. I held off buying anything then, but I can't wait to rectify that mistake on this trip.

Days 4 (EPCOT/HS) and Day 5 (SAB, monorail tour, fireworks/Ohana) SOUND GREAT!!!

Try to catch the weather to see if you need some flexibility in your SAB day.

I've only had dinner at Captain's Grille, but I hear wonderful things about the breakfast! If you order the buffet, you can also get eggs made to order and even an omlette from your waiter or waitress.

Did you see these posts on the BC/YC forum?

Thanks Dee! That is so good to know about Captain's Grille. That's the one thing that I dislike about buffets: the icky buffet eggs. Being able to get eggs made to order is a whole game changer for that breakfast!

The BC/YC quotes made me I can just see Franklin ordering his lobster omelette exactly like that (except maybe with twice as much butter!)

​

 

[Missyrose]

Before we move on to our plans for October 6, I had to share a purchase with you. Many of you probably know the Disney Store had a sale last week in which you could take 25 percent off theme park items. There was one thing I was thinking about getting in October on our trip: Mickey head silverware.

When this sale was announced, it dawned on me that the 25 percent off was waaaaaay better than the AP discount we'd get in the parks, so I ordered the silverware.
And it came in the mail yesterday!

I'm so excited, they're so cute with just a hint of Disney. What do you think?

Back to our regularly scheduled program, our plans for October 6. It’s Saturday morning, which means it’s time to move resorts!
We’ll be up and out early, probably taking a cab to our new home....

We’ll enter this absolutely stunning lobby and check in.

Since it will be early, I highly doubt our room will be ready.
So we’ll hop on the bus and head to

We are keeping our to-do list for Animal Kingdom short and sweet. 1. I WILL see Festival of the Lion King, period, end of story. I’ve never seen it, tried to see it many times and the rumors point to it being shut down for a while for Avatarland preparations.

2. Expedition Everest.

It’s Franklin’s favorite ride in all of Disney and I have agreed to try it for the first time. You see, I am a serious ride chicken. It took me 28 years of life before I tried Space Mountain and I didn’t ride Rock-N-Rollercoaster for the first time until last year. Up until this point, I’ve been scared about the drop when you come out of Everest, it looks quite steep. But several people have told me it isn’t as straight down as it looks. And they’ve also told me that if I can handle R-N-R, I should be fine on EE. We’ll see. If anyone disagrees with the advice I’ve been given, please speak up!

The only other thing on our to-do list is the maharajah jungle trek.
We’ve never been on any of the trails/treks at AK, so we’re excited to try this one.

Lunch will most definitely be at Flame Tree Barbeque, yet another first for us.

After lunch, we’ll head back to the resort and hopefully have a room to retreat to.
We’ll shower and change and at 3:45 head down to the lobby to check in for the Wanyama Safari.

For those of you that don’t know, the Wanyama Safari is a special package offered to guests staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. There will be a small group of us (no more than 10, I think) and we’ll load into a safari truck and be taken out into the Lodge’s savannah. The guide will teach us about the different animals who reside at AKL and how they came to be there. It’s going to be a really fun activity and I can’t wait to see the amazing pictures Franklin will take.

After the safari, they will bring us back to the lodge where we’ll have a family style dinner at Jiko! I’m really excited about this whole experience, it should be something special.

No real plans for after dinner, just hoping to enjoy the resort a little.
We might take in some night-vision animal viewing or go for a nighttime swim and listen to the stories around the fire pit.

What do you think of these plans? Are you just happy to see us set foot in a park? Where do you think we’re headed on Sunday?​

 

[marDgreen88]

Ahhhh AKL. What a beautiful place! It's at the top of my list!

I promise, Everest is great. The hill is NOT that steep. I agree, if you can do RNRC you can do EE! I would recommend walking around the Tree of Life as well! There are a ton of great photo opps with the tree itself, AND, KANGAROOS.

The Wanyama safari sounds so cool! I'd love to do that someday too.

 

[Missyrose]

Ahhhh AKL. What a beautiful place! It's at the top of my list!

I promise, Everest is great. The hill is NOT that steep. I agree, if you can do RNRC you can do EE! I would recommend walking around the Tree of Life as well! There are a ton of great photo opps with the tree itself, AND, KANGAROOS.

The Wanyama safari sounds so cool! I'd love to do that someday too.

I'm so excited to stay at AKL, even just visiting for breakfast in March totally blew us away. You'll stay there someday, I know it!

Thanks for the encouragement about EE. I just have to keep repeating, "I can do it, I can do it."

The Wanyama safari is our first Disney tour and we're really excited to try something that is above and beyond just visiting the parks. And I promise, there will be a FULL report after we're done. ​

 

[natebenma]

How cute is that silverware???

Another great day!!!

AKL is truly a breathtaking resort! I look forward to hearing what you think about it.

for seeing Lion King. (Have you seen the bird show Flights of Wonder yet? I haven't but hear it is really awesome. Some day)

You can totally do Everest! I agree with everyone who told you that if you could do RNR, then you should not have a problem with Everest. It is a gorgeous coaster.

Do you know how to get to "The Secret Trail" around the Tree of Life that MarDgreen88 mentioned? If not, I have directions in my NEVER trip report and I can post them here if you want.

The Safari and dinner at Jiko sound incredible.

Where are you going on Sunday? DUH!!! Magic Kingdom, baby!

 

[Missyrose]

How cute is that silverware???

Another great day!!!

Thanks Dee! I love finding new ways to Disney-fy my house.

AKL is truly a breathtaking resort! I look forward to hearing what you think about it.

for seeing Lion King. (Have you seen the bird show Flights of Wonder yet? I haven't but hear it is really awesome. Some day)

You can totally do Everest! I agree with everyone who told you that if you could do RNR, then you should not have a problem with Everest. It is a gorgeous coaster.

The thing I'm constantly amazed by is Disney's ability to create all these breathtaking resorts and each and every one is so different from the next.

No Birds of Wonder yet, but it's definitely on our future to-do list at AK.

I'm feeling better about EE, I really hope I like it!

Do you know how to get to "The Secret Trail" around the Tree of Life that MarDgreen88 mentioned? If not, I have directions in my NEVER trip report and I can post them here if you want.

The Safari and dinner at Jiko sound incredible.

Where are you going on Sunday? DUH!!! Magic Kingdom, baby!

I have no idea where the secret trail is, do tell! That would be perfect for our day at AK!

Good guess for Sunday, but I can rule out MK. Yes, I know, it seems almost sacrilege that we'll be five days into a Disney trip and haven't seen MK yet, but our plans are just taking us elsewhere so far on the trip. Maybe before our monorail tour on Friday, we could pop into MK for a few minutes to just take in the sights and sounds of Main Street!
​

 

[amazingact21]

I don't think taking a down day at the resort is crazy, at all. If I had a DH who would do it, I would. Plus, I feel like if you're staying at Beach Club, you really should dedicate some time to Stormalong Bay. It has to be one of the most detailed pools on property, and I could easily see a morning being swept away in the water.


I did not know that a safari tour was offered at AKL for guests. I'm hoping to stay there in 2013, and I just wrote this little tidbit of information down for the future. It sounds really interesting, and it's great that you're topping it off with a dinner at Jiko!


I'd highly recommend seeing FoTLK. It's my favorite show, hands down, and I've read several people's TRs where they have watched it for the first time and loved it.

 

[teekathepony]

- I like the sounds of your Day 2 plans, nice and relaxing with some down time in DHS.
- We had a lovely red teapot that matched our black and red kitchen. I broke it about two years ago. I found a Best of Mickey teapot on the Disney store site and sent it to DH like 5 months ago. He didn't bite. I told him about it the other day again when we finally threw out the red broken teapot and he said "Let's go order it right now!" Ok... someone has a serious case of shopping bipolarity. So we go online to order it and find that silverware set and actually put it in our shopping cart, determined to buy it! Then we found our teapot was out of stock so we decided to wait just 8 days to see if we can find both in the parks. So I guess long story short, what I'm saying is I love the silverware set!
You must, must, must see FotLK! I'm so in love with that show!
I completely agree that if you can do RnR you can do EE, it's much milder. Fun though! I always describe it as a slightly more intense big thunder, that's what it seems like to me.

 

[Missyrose]

I don't think taking a down day at the resort is crazy, at all. If I had a DH who would do it, I would. Plus, I feel like if you're staying at Beach Club, you really should dedicate some time to Stormalong Bay. It has to be one of the most detailed pools on property, and I could easily see a morning being swept away in the water.


I did not know that a safari tour was offered at AKL for guests. I'm hoping to stay there in 2013, and I just wrote this little tidbit of information down for the future. It sounds really interesting, and it's great that you're topping it off with a dinner at Jiko!


I'd highly recommend seeing FoTLK. It's my favorite show, hands down, and I've read several people's TRs where they have watched it for the first time and loved it.

I cannot wait to get swept away by Stormalong Bay. And I would not be surprised if I spent a good chunk of the day just bobbing along the lazy river!

FYI, the AKL safari reservations open 180 days out.

I'm so excited to FotLK, because I WILL see it this time!

- I like the sounds of your Day 2 plans, nice and relaxing with some down time in DHS.
- We had a lovely red teapot that matched our black and red kitchen. I broke it about two years ago. I found a Best of Mickey teapot on the Disney store site and sent it to DH like 5 months ago. He didn't bite. I told him about it the other day again when we finally threw out the red broken teapot and he said "Let's go order it right now!" Ok... someone has a serious case of shopping bipolarity. So we go online to order it and find that silverware set and actually put it in our shopping cart, determined to buy it! Then we found our teapot was out of stock so we decided to wait just 8 days to see if we can find both in the parks. So I guess long story short, what I'm saying is I love the silverware set!
You must, must, must see FotLK! I'm so in love with that show!
I completely agree that if you can do RnR you can do EE, it's much milder. Fun though! I always describe it as a slightly more intense big thunder, that's what it seems like to me.

​

Oh wow, you're eight days away from your trip?!?!? That is so exciting! I can't wait to see what other fun Disney housewares you find!

Thanks for the encouragement on EE. I love BTM, so I'm hoping it'll be like that with just some added thrill.

 

[Missyrose]

So, so sorry, I fell a day behind! Darn work was too busy yesterday and then I had dinner with some girlfriends.
But we’re back on track now and you get a two-for-one special for our plans!

After an awesome evening that included a safari and dinner at Jiko, we should be up and out early. The plan will be to get to DHS early (around 8:30) since they’ve been letting people in before the posted opening time. Why do we have to get there so early?

Toy Story Mania, of course!

We’ll also take in a crazy ride to an Aerosmith concert.

And Franklin will tackle the tower.

We’ll also take several trips to a galaxy far, far away.

Lunch is at an old favorite.

50s Primetime Cafe! Yum, time for fried chicken...

Sometime in the afternoon, we’ll hop on the Friendship Boat and cruise to Epcot for an evening of grazing at the Food and Wine Festival.

Starship is performing that evening.
And while I don’t think we’ll attend any of the concerts, I would like to be close enough to the American pavillion to hear “We Built This City.”

We’ll cap another wonderful Disney day with Illuminations!

With a rope drop to park close day on the 7th, we’ll have a lazy morning on the 8th. Breakfast will be either in the room or at Mara.

We’ll spend the morning either swimming or taking in the savannah from our balcony. And whenever the mood strikes us, we’ll head over to MK because it’s party day!
That’s right, we had so much fun at last year’s Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, that we’re going back again this year. We’re dressing up this year, but our costumes are top-secret. You’ll just have to wait until the TR to find out who we were!

We’ve got a late lunch/early dinner ADR at The Plaza at 3 p.m.

Yes, we’ll actually eat lunch before chowing down on this yummy sundae, but who wants to look at photos of sandwiches?

We have no real plan for our afternoon at MK, just taking in whichever attractions we want. One stop will surely be Storybook Circus because it opened the week AFTER we were there in March!

Last year, we made the 7 Dwarfs our party priority.

This year, I think we’re going to line up for the princesses and princes.

The things I’m really looking forward to at the party are:

The Villains Mix and Mingle

Haunted Mansion

Boo to You parade

And Hallowishes!

There will, of course, be lots of fun meet and greets

and trick-or-treat trails

thrown into our very late night at MK. And I will have to take a few nighttime spins on Big Thunder Mountain (my favorite ride, especially at night!)

And who can resist seeing all the fun Tomorrowland decorations while gliding around on the PeopleMover?

And if it’s anything like last year’s party, we won’t leave the park until well after midnight. Whew! Another Disney day packed to the gills with fun.​

 

[marDgreen88]

The Halloween party sounds like so much fun! I always watch the Villains Mix and Mingle and Boo to You on you tube during Halloween time... and I don't even really like Halloween. Hahha I'm weird. Anyways, it sounds like a fun couple of days!!!

 

[Missyrose]

The Halloween party sounds like so much fun! I always watch the Villains Mix and Mingle and Boo to You on you tube during Halloween time... and I don't even really like Halloween. Hahha I'm weird. Anyways, it sounds like a fun couple of days!!!

My favorite part of the mix and mingle last year was the Queen of Hearts performing to the Glee mashup of Thriller and Heads Will Roll. So perfect and sooooo entertaining!

​

 

[Missyrose]

I made it through the first Redskins game of the season, exhausted, but not too much worse for the wear. It was a looooooong day at work, but I survived and we're now just 24 days away from Disney! Enough real-world talk, it's time for the plans!

Here’s something we learned last year: The Halloween party is TONS of fun, but it is a pretty exhausting night. You’re literally on the go from the minute the party starts until you collapse into bed sometime in the wee hours of the morning. So having learned that lesson, we’ve made the day after our party another chill day.

We’ll sleep in (by Disney standards at least) and then mosey downstairs

for breakfast at Boma! We’ve never eaten there and have heard nothing but absolute raves about the restaurant, so we’re extremely excited to try it out.

After breakfast, we’ll spend a couple of hours at the pool.

We’ll shower, change and hop on the bus to Epcot.

Where we will participate in our first Food and Wine Festival special event. We’ll be attending a food and beer pairing lunch at Via Napoli. We’re very excited to try an event and the reviews from last’s year’s pairing lunch made it sound really yummy!

That afternoon, a couple of our friends (Jean and Lee) will arrive at Disney from Texas and eventually join us at Epcot.

There will be more grazing at the Food and Wine booths.

And Boyz II Men are performing the Eat to the Beat concerts!

They were awesome a couple of years ago and we’re excited to see them again. It’s just so funny that we’ve gotten to be old enough that the songs from our teen years (Sugar Ray, Boyz II Men and Smash Mouth) have become nostalgia and are now part of these throwback concerts.

We’ll explore the World Showcase for the rest of the evening until it’s time for Illuminations.
I hope you guys enjoy Illumination photos, because there will be a ton of them on this trip!

That’s it, another Disney day in the books. What do you guys think of today’s plans?​

 

[marDgreen88]

I think your plans look good! I always think it sounds so fun to just pick random special things from F&W booths. Yum.

I'm betting the morning will be awesome as well. I think it's important to enjoy your resort!

 

[teekathepony]

Holy cow, Starship and Boyz II Men? Cool! I would love to see both of them!
Love the plans, sounds like a really nice time so far.
I agree with everyone else about Boma -- my favourite breakfast by a mile!

 

[Missyrose]

I think your plans look good! I always think it sounds so fun to just pick random special things from F&W booths. Yum.

I'm betting the morning will be awesome as well. I think it's important to enjoy your resort!

Grazing at the booths is so much fun. There's so many yummy things to try. And since there's such small portions, it's a good way to try something you wouldn't normally eat. Last year, I tried the beef pita pocket at the Morocco booth. I'm not usually a very adventurous eater, so I'd never eaten anything even remotely Moroccan. But this beef pita ended up being one of my favorite things at the Festival last year!

Holy cow, Starship and Boyz II Men? Cool! I would love to see both of them!
Love the plans, sounds like a really nice time so far.
I agree with everyone else about Boma -- my favourite breakfast by a mile!

Starship will be completely new to us, so I'm excited to hear some of their biggest hits live. Boyz II Men was just spectacular two years ago at the Eat to the Beat concerts. They were so good, we ended up listening to all three shows!

Glad to hear you loved Boma's breakfast, it seems to be pretty universally beloved. So I'm excited to try it!

​

 

[Missyrose]

When you have a nice leisurely day, what better follow-up is there than a super- early breakfast at Cinderella’s Castle? Yep, Franklin and I will be up very, VERY early and hopefully at the MK gates by around 7:30. Why so early, you ask? So we can take some amazing photos on a big, beautiful and EMPTY Main Street!

We were there for a pre-opening breakfast last year (Crystal Palace) and being in the empty park was just magical. It really feels like your own, private Magic Kingdom.

I’m also excited to eat at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I remember eating there once as a kid. But the only thing that really sticks out in my mind was the fact that Donny Osmond was eating there too. So my mom totally used me to go over and talk to him. She made me get his autograph, even though I didn’t even know who he was (at the time)!

We’ll spend the rest of the morning in Magic Kingdom. One of the must-dos is to check out the Storybook Circus in more detail and, of course, ride Dumbo.

It’s Franklin’s favorite ride. Though I’m not sure my next Dumbo ride partner can ever be as cute as my last. Hi Kel!

Well, on second thought, he is pretty cute himself.

We’ll definitely take a spin on Space Mountain.

How cool does that look with the lights on?

There WILL be several out-of-control train rides on Big Thunder Mountain.

It’s going to be a crowded day at MK. So Franklin and I might stick it out through lunch at Columbia Harbor House.

Then back to the resort for some pool time.

That afternoon, our crew (me, Franklin, Jean and Lee) will head over to the Car Care Center to pick up the rental car for tomorrow’s big field trip.

All four of us will then head to the Contemporary for a yummy dinner at California Grill!

We’ll then walk back over to MK for Main Street Electrical parade.

And Wishes!

The next morning, we’ll be up bright and early again. But this time, it’s for a trip to the dark side. That’s right, we going to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.

We’ve got a date with a certain Wizard.

Depending how far back you’ve read in my trip reports, you may remember that this will be a return trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for Franklin and I. In 2010, my best friend’s mother (who works for Nasa) wanted us to go down to Florida for a one of the last space shuttle launches. The launch got scrubbed on every day of our trip, so we ended up with lots of time for the theme parks, including WWoHP.

On this return trip, there will be lots of Butterbeer.

Hopefully 2 or three glasses that day. That stuff is so good! Especially the frozen kind.

There will be many rides on flying broomsticks.

And shopping at Hogsmeade.

Franklin wants to ride the Hulk coaster and I love the Spider Man attraction. Around lunchtime, we’ll head to the other park, where Franklin and I are both super excited to try the new Despicable Me ride. We loooove that movie.

And by mid-afternoon, we’ll head back to the Disney bubble to drop off the rental car.

Our evening will include dinner at San Angel Inn, a first for Franklin and I.
And we’ll also enjoy a Smash Mouth concert, some Food and Wine goodies and Illuminations, again!

It’s a jam-packed day, for sure. But I’m hoping the slower pace of the rest of the trip will make up for it.

Which brings us to the 12th, our last day in Disney. Sad, right? How does departure day always seem to sneak up on you?

Quite literally, the only plans for this day is another breakfast at Boma.
Yep, I’m assuming we’re going to love it as much as everyone else does, so I planned another breakfast there.

Our Magical Depress pickup will be around 4 that afternoon, so we’ll have most of the day to do what we want. Maybe we’ll head back to DHS or MK for attractions we’ve missed or want to do again. Or we’ll head for one last lunch at Food and Wine. Whatever we feel like doing, we’ll do.

So that’s it, that’s the trip. What do you guys think of the plans? It’s a pretty Epcot-entric trip because of Food and Wine, which I’m more than okay with. When we go back in January, we’ll have a much more well-rounded itinerary.

We're now three weeks out from the trip, so it's time to start our 21-day countdown.
Check back here later today for the announcement of how we're counting down and the first entry!

​

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

It’s Franklin’s favorite ride. Though I’m not sure my next Dumbo ride partner can ever be as cute as my last. Hi Kel!

Hi! I love this pic! It's the one that pops up on my phone when you call me! I guess Frank-a-lin has a bit of competition!

Your plans sound wonderful. I want to hear ALL about Minion Mayhem. The boys can't wait to try it next time we head to Orlando! I'll need to see some pictures of the whole Despicable Me area (ahem *Franklin!*)

Looking forward to the start of the countdown!!

 

[Missyrose]

Hi! I love this pic! It's the one that pops up on my phone when you call me! I guess Frank-a-lin has a bit of competition!

Your plans sound wonderful. I want to hear ALL about Minion Mayhem. The boys can't wait to try it next time we head to Orlando! I'll need to see some pictures of the whole Despicable Me area (ahem *Franklin!*)

Looking forward to the start of the countdown!!

I love that photo too! There will be LOTS of Despicable Me photos, you know it's one of Franklin's favorite movies of all-time!

Speaking of the countdown, let's get started, shall we?​

 

[Missyrose]

Our Favorite Things to Eat at Disney

Now that you know all our plans for upcoming trip, it’s pretty apparent that we like to eat while we’re in the World. And this countdown will be our 21 favorite things to eat when we’re dining with the mouse. Some will be from meals, others snacks, but they all will have EXCELLENT food porn photos. So without further ado, let’s get on with the food...

21. Cape May Clambake crab legs and Oreo bon bons
We had our first meal at Cape May Clambake back in March. I’m not usually the biggest fan of buffets outside of the breakfast variety. But with true seafood lovers in Franklin and his sister in our crew, I knew it was somewhere we should try.

Turns out, I wasn’t wrong. Franklin really liked the crab legs.

To the tune of three plates’ worth. They were made all the better by the neverending supply of melted butter. In Franklin’s words “Mmmmmm butter.”

I’m more of a land lover, but I still managed to find something truly drool-worthy to eat: Oreo Bon Bons!

The filling of the bon bon filling tastes just like the filling of a Oreo cookie! Only there’s about three times as much filling as a cookie.

I read over on the restaurants board that during its recent refurb, Cape May did an overhaul of its offerings and the Oreo bon bons are no longer on the dessert buffet.

But never fear, I’ve also read that you can buy the bon bons in the Beach Club Marketplace.
Phew, I’m sure I’ll have 2 or 3 (or 10) while I’m at Beach Club just a few weeks from now!​