Resort Upgrades, Roses, No Rain & LOTS OF FOOD! NEW 11/23 Food & Wine AND PhotoPass!

[DisneyCrafter]

I hear you about Le Cellier- we thought the food was good enough (and we loved the cheddar cheese soup!), but not worth going back. Admittedly, our service had a lot to do with this.


Sorry to hear about DH's car... I hope you can get the repairs done for less money than quoted!

At least this was an amazing trip (seriously.. an upgrade to GF!) to be reporting on!

Reflecting back on it, the service wasn't even a factor on our likeness scale. We had bad service towards the end of almost every single meal. Being a former waitress (high school and college), I couldn't help but to notice the waitor/waitress never had more than 3 tables to wait on-so why the slow service? Is it a Disney thing? Hurry up and wait? You do that touring the parks most of the time so why not with meals, too!

The repair shop we took my car to a few months back already gave us an estimate that is over $200 less-and that was just for the brakes. I'm not quite as panicky like I was yesterday but it still stinks.

I'm here and loving it so far! Sorry LeCellier wasn't that great for y'all ~ it's one of our favorites! We have never tried the Wave but will have to try it out on a trip next year!

It's a bum deal that car work is getting in the way of another Disney trip but at least you have the disboards to live vicariously through others!

Can't wait for the next update!

I was disappointed we didn't like it as much as I thought we would! I would definitely go there for lunch and get a bowl of soup, split a burger with DH, and have some Creme Brulee, though!

You're right about living vicariously through others, it helps but it can't cause a bit of jealousy sometimes, too!

Hi Rachael! I am really enjoying your trip report! What a fantastic upgrade to the GF as well!! That fireworks cruise looked awesome too!! What a nice surprise!! You and Greg sure are getting majorly pixie dusted!!! I LOVE all your restaurant reviews as well, there are so many we want to try and I like your honest thoughts about the places (and the pics too )! Looking forward to reading more!!!!

~Beth

Thanks! We are so Blessed to be able to have gotten that upgrade! I enjoy doing the reviews of the food, I love it actually but it's just too much to do a dining review and a TR so I'm combining it! Check out my blog if you like food pictures/ideas for new recipes. I just posted pictures of things I cooked last week.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Day Three: We got to spend it with my cousin!!! ​

We started this day off with the opening ceremony at MK!

We made it just in the knick of time, too! Literally, the music began to play when we were walking down the monorail path. I loved it and of course, I teared up. I’m so glad we were able to make time for it. After that we got back on the monorail and went to breakfast at Kona! I was very underwhelmed. I thought the Tonga Toast was okay and Greg’s Macadamia Nut Pancakes were good…without the nuts. Greg loved the Tonga Toast a lot more than I did. What is with me? I don’t like LeCellier’s Mushroom Filet OR Tonga Toast? I am not a true DISer, I guess.

The pancakes almost look undercooked to me.

After breakfast we walked over to the Poly Bus Stop (after I made Greg ask the front desk where it was) and waited for a bus to Hollywood Studios. It was a very full bus and we had to stand which was quite difficult to do with all of the bouncing around. Let me tell you how happy I was when that bus ride was over! Anyway…

My cousin was waiting for us at the bus stop and I began my brisk walk to the entrance and through and straight over to TSM. Notice how I say I BEGAN…I made those 2 keep up and if they didn’t I just continued on my merry way! Ha! Ha! It was after 10am at this point and I was hoping we’d still be able to grab some FPs and we did! They were not until around 4pm if I remember correctly but that’s okay.

My mind is fuzzy on when exactly we did everything (I don’t think I’m cut out for trip notes) but I know that we did The Great Movie Ride (and it was the gangster version…again! I just don’t think I’ll ever get the cowboy version!), ToT (twice!), RNRC, Animation Academy (3 times…my cousin was ADDICTED!), BaTB show, and the Backlot Tour all before heading back to TSM to use our FPs. We also managed to “squeeze” in lunch at Starring Rolls and a stroll down the Streets of America. Phew! We weren’t done yet!

I actually love the class myself. I could seriously spend an afternoon there. We did 4 classes by the end of the week. I love that not many people take advantage of it so the wait isn’t ridiculous and you can usually get in on the next one no problem!

I loved these 2 windows! Unfortunately I didn’t get the full effect of the SoA because they had already put up A LOT of the lights for Spectacle of Lights.

Yes, we did the backlot tour. We never did it before and I wanted to see it for myself. The best part? Definitely when the volunteers to the action sequence. Our group was hilarious and they totally got into it! Come on! Can’t they get some better props at least? The most exciting thing for me was the Chicken Coup from the Hannah Montana movie that I watch with one of the girls that I babysit!

Starring Rolls famous sandwich! I almost got the ham one but the fresh mozzarella on the turkey called my name. Greg got the same.

No, we didn’t get a cupcake (nothing could compare to the cupcake from Contempo Café…and yes, we’ve had cupcakes from SR before). These were delicious but the brownie definitely took the cake! He! He!

I beat Greg! I could tell he wasn’t happy about it but he got over it quickly. He was upset because his accuracy rating was better than mine. However, halfway through I decided to actually aim for things instead of just pull away. My arm was hurting so bad I almost wanted to give up! Ugh! I should have aimed the entire time!

If that wasn’t enough for one day we then headed over to EPCOT via the Friendship Boats but walked from YC/BC (we had the SLOWEST driver ever that day). We were headed for dinner at Via Napoli! I stopped quickly in France on our way to Italy and grabbed another Slush to cool me down. Upon arriving at Via Napoli, we were seated quickly (and I do know they were taking walk ups-like most restaurants were the week we were there). We each ordered a pizza for ourselves. Greg got the Pepperoni and Jackie and I had the 4 Cheese (Quattro Formaggio, I believe). It was good but I like WGPE pizza better. The dessert was the show stopper here. I had the ricotta donuts that came with a dark chocolate dipping sauce and whipped cream and Greg had a gelato sundae with black cherries that exploded in your mouth! Holy Toledo were they good!! Needless to say between all of that food we were stuffed when we decided to head over to MK.

Let me explain this picture. My cousin thought the Provolone and Salami appetizer sounded good. She asked and I said we could definitely share. Well, for $6 you got 3 LITTLE cubes of provolone, 4 LITTLE pieces of Salami (not even deli sized cut, more like pepperoni sized), and 2 Olives. Seriously. It was pathetic. It wasn’t even that good. Disney must pay .25 for the food they charge $6.00 for, seriously.

It was EMH night and we got there just a few minutes before the parade began so we were able to BOOK IT down Main Street for Tomorrow Land. We waited in line for Space Mountain for nearly an hour. Ugh! That line is not fun to wait in. After an awesome ride (I love the drops!) we headed past the construction and over towards Splash Mountain. My cousin Jackie hadn’t riden it since she went with my aunt to Disney World in 2004. It was a hilarious ride to say the least. Let’s just say she had white knuckles the entire time. As soon as I saw how freaked out she was I said, “I probably shouldn’t tell you about the other drops then!” I know they aren’t bad but I loved scaring her! As soon as we got off Splash the park closed and EMH began. Unfortunately my cousin wasn’t able to get on any of the rides with us. (If any of you are worried about non-resort guests getting on rides during EMH rest assured that it WON’T happen.) Greg and I rode POTC and Jungle Cruise (we had the best skipper ever-that and I was exhausted by this point so everything he said was funny) before we decided to call it a night shortly before 11pm. The monorail line was huge but it was less than 30 minutes until we were back in our room and ready for bed! Wait! I almost forgot. There was a surprise waiting for us when we got back to our room. Our mousekeeper left us roses to thank us for the tip holders (and money) I made. Definitely unexpected and not needed but good to know that they were appreciated!

Day Three Wrap Up:
We had breakfast at: Kona
We had lunch at: Starring Rolls
We had dinner at: Via Napoli
Our snacks were: Mickey Bar and Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich, Grey Goose Slush
Rachael’s Favorite Food: 4 Formaggio Pizza (Via Napoli)
Greg’s Favorite Food: Pepperoni Pizza (Via Napoli)
Rachael and Greg’s Favorite Part: Animation Academy and Jungle Cruise, respectively.
What we WANT to do again: Animation Academy
What we DON’T WANT to do again: Visit 3 parks in one day!

Up Next: We finally rest!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Wow - what a packed day!!! I can't believe how much you got done! I hope you slept in the next morning.

It's too bad CMs can't take advantage of EMHs...

Also - sorry to hear about your post Disney blues... it's very common. I hope the car problems work out and you can get back on track saving money for your next vacation.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for making it in time to the MK opening show! I love it so much.

The pizza looks so good at Via Napoli. I can't wait to eat there in March!

 

[MusiqChic99]

Are you the luckiest couple around or what????

Sounds like a very special trip so far and you only got started!!!!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Wow - what a packed day!!! I can't believe how much you got done! I hope you slept in the next morning.

It's too bad CMs can't take advantage of EMHs...

Also - sorry to hear about your post Disney blues... it's very common. I hope the car problems work out and you can get back on track saving money for your next vacation.

We definitely did sleep in the next morning but that's coming up!

It is too bad but it's definitely understandable.

Yeah, I know it's common but I at least thought we'd be able to book another trip (not necessarily to WDW) in early January but that's not going to happen now.

Yay for making it in time to the MK opening show! I love it so much.

The pizza looks so good at Via Napoli. I can't wait to eat there in March!

It was quite delicious!

Are you the luckiest couple around or what????

Sounds like a very special trip so far and you only got started!!!!

Although we were lucky on our trip we're not very lucky here at home. Thanks for reading!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

3 parks in one day?! That made me tired just reading about it!

It looks like you had some yummy food! SR will definitely be the CS place we try out at DHS. It seems to be the only one there that gets good reviews. And your Via Nappoli pizzas look good too!

 

[CW4DW]

Love the update ~ but that was a busy day, looking forward to more!

 

[IheartDDuck]

What we DON’T WANT to do again: Visit 3 parks in one day!
​

Joining! Wow, it really seems like you had a packed day. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun though. There was one time, many moons ago, that I actually went to all four parks in one day.

I don't remember too much about it......​

 

[winnie 38]

Awesome day.

 

[ChiCat]

WOW! Fantastic resort upgrade, fireworks cruise, and complimentary roses?! Nice trip report.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

3 parks in one day?! That made me tired just reading about it!

It looks like you had some yummy food! SR will definitely be the CS place we try out at DHS. It seems to be the only one there that gets good reviews. And your Via Nappoli pizzas look good too!

Words cannot explain how exhausted I was. I'm glad Greg talked me out of an idea I had for the next day. But that'll come in the next update!

Love the update ~ but that was a busy day, looking forward to more!

It was a busy day but definitely worth it!

Joining! Wow, it really seems like you had a packed day. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun though. There was one time, many moons ago, that I actually went to all four parks in one day.

I don't remember too much about it......

LOL for real on that one! Luckily I have plenty of pictures otherwise it would all be a blue.

We should have just gone to AK real quick to complete the day.

Awesome day.

Thanks, it was an awesome day. I can't wait until we get our PhotoPass CD because there's an awesome picture from this day on there!

WOW! Fantastic resort upgrade, fireworks cruise, and complimentary roses?! Nice trip report.

I know! I only wish that luck would rub off at home and you know we would magically be "upgraded" from our old, garbage cars to 2 brand new cars.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

My god that day was packed! I really hope you guys slept in the next day!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

My god that day was packed! I really hope you guys slept in the next day!

Update coming right up! I'm heading over to your TR I see you posted after.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Life Update:

Well, they say when it rains, it pours and my goodness is it "pouring" over here! Greg's car has a lot of the repairs done; his car still needs a few more things done and those will cost another $625, not including the new tires the mechanic said he needed to fix a noise the mechanic said they are making (a noise that we don't really hear and he said the tread is fine so we are going to wait on that b/c that's another $600 or so). We've already paid $900 in repairs.

Well, we decided it would be a good idea to get my car looked at just in case. My brakes were making a slight squeaking sound whenever I would brake when I first turned the car on. At first the mechanic said that was normal but then when we came back to give us a list of things wrong, he said the noise was due to our rotors being rusted. Ugh! So now, $1500 later (that we didn't have and had to borrow from my DMIL and DFIL) my car will be fixed. There were about 6 things wrong with my car total.

It's just too much to even be depressed about anymore. The repairs needed to be done and that's that. All of our extra money will go towards the repairs for the rest of this year and into next. I'm still hopeful that we'll be able to put a little into savings next year but I'm not counting on it.

I just don't feel comfortable using our extra money to go on vacations. I'd rather have a substantial amount of money in the bank than walk on pins & needles. We're praying and we know that God will get us through this, we're just a little disheartened at the moment.

I still have plenty of trips to scrapbook, so I'll get to relive those memories and that will have to be enough for now.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Day Four: I need to rest!!!
​

Today was Tuesday. We had a 1030 am reservation for 1900 Park Fare. We didn’t set an alarm (or maybe we did just in case) and woke up a little after 9. We got ready and walked over to the main building to check in. I believe we waited around 20 minutes or so before we were seated. As the hostess seated us, I couldn’t help but smile when I realized she was bringing us to the same table that we sat in just the December before. The breakfast was just as delicious as I remembered it to be. I probably ate 4 Pecan Rolls by the time we were finished with breakfast. I will say that the characters were slow to come around. We saw Alice, The Mad Hatter (I was up getting my plate then), and Tigger. Mary Poppins never made it to our table. That’s saying something because the server took FOREVER to bring us the check. (What is with the service???) Oh and just another observation I made-I think it quite possibly could have been every single person’s birthday in that room as I was made aware by the constant announcement of somebody else’s birthday as soon as singing to one table was finished. & People (including myself) wonder why the “What will you celebrate?” theme isn’t as celebratory as it was last year. IMO.

After breakfast we decided to go to the pool. I got the “awesome” idea to do laundry. I put the laundry in and headed out to meet Greg at the main pool. Greg was then the one that switched the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I was the one that decided, at first, that the clothes were dry enough after 1 time but after getting back to the room and attempting to lay everything out to dry more (underwear included) I went and put them in again. It actually made for not the most relaxing of afternoons. Ugh! Oh, and my feet were unbelievably sore so that made it even worse. Let me just say that for being a deluxe resort, the laundry facilities were pathetic. One set of a 20 year old wasther and dryer. The dryer took 2 times to dry. It cost $6.00 to do one load of laundry. Needless to say that was all the laundry that was done for that day.

For lunch, Greg and I shared a gigantic sandwich from Gasparillas and hung out by the quiet pool. Around 3 or so we headed up to the room to get ready for an evening of miniature golf and Downtown Disney!

We took a $20 cab ride over to Fantasia Gardens. We were 1 of maybe 4 families there at the time. We had a lot of fun! I even got 2 holes in one!! Shh…everyone gets a hole in one on the 18th hole. It was probably the most challenging course Greg and I ever played together. However, we still like our favorite place back home better. After finishing up and after I claimed victory, (How did that happen?! Greg was NOT happy. Especially since he was talking his skills up before we began and made a comment to the effect of “We both know you aren’t the best at mini-golf” to me. EAT THAT GREG! Ha! Ha! It’s all in good fun.)

We walked from Fantasia Gardens over to the Boardwalk where we hopped on a bus to DTD. The first thing on our agenda in DTD? Dinner! We went to WGPE. I enjoyed my pasta very much and Greg loved his pizza, of course! We just beat the dinner rush as well. We had 2 people in front of us when we were ordering and when we left the line was out the door.

Next, it was time to get our, well my, shop on! We went to the Christmas place first and we each picked out an ornament. Greg got a little Mickey Fantasia hat and I got a Mickey head with rhinestones on it. We stopped in TrenD and I browsed for a while. I wishe their prices weren’t so high! However, I did pick up a bottle of OPI nail polish for $2.99. It was on clearance. We then went over to the World of Disney and spent around an hour in there. Greg was having a hard time finding a shirt. Both shirts he liked were out of his size and we didn’t ask (which we later learned that we should have). After picking up a few things (suckers for the kids I babysit for, a Value Tee for me, a keychain, magnet, and two coffee mugs) we decided to head over to the Mickey sports store to see if they had the classic Mickey baseball tee that Greg wanted. They did, but not in his size. Grr! Oh well. Greg said he looked for it online but hasn’t come across it yet. After that we decided to call it a night and headed back to the GF. The bus ride back took almost an hour if not a little more. We only stopped at one other resort (The Wilderness Lodge). I was not happy! We finally got back to our room and we settled in for the night.

Up Next: Animal Kingdom by day, MK by night…

 

[JMat]

Sweet trip report, LOVING the GF upgrade - never heard THAT kind of magic before

Keep it comin' - cant wait to hear more!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Sweet trip report, LOVING the GF upgrade - never heard THAT kind of magic before

Keep it comin' - cant wait to hear more!

Thanks! We definitely had LOTS of pixie dust! Glad to have you reading along.

 

[hill6]

Loving your report. Great way to see the fireworks. We stayed at Sago Cay last year when we were at GF. We had MK view.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sounds like a really nice day!!