Return of the Old Folks' Van - A May 2013 Trip Report - Updated 11/18

[Bridora]

Checking in at Old Key West!

​

I’d set my alarm for 6:45 before going to sleep the night before, but what time did we actually get up?


Not until 8:30! Guess we were tired from the dance party! It took a little while to get everyone up and going, but eventually we were ready to check out of Buena Vista Suites and check in to Old Key West. Woo hoo!

Even though they offered breakfast, we skipped it in favor of finding something on property to eat. Davis isn’t a big fan of continental breakfast anyway, so he should get to eat something he likes every once in a while, too!

We decided to go over to Old Key West, get checked in, and see what kind of food they had over there.






Luke took these next two pictures as we were walking up from the parking lot:







It was around 10:00 when we got there. While Davis and I got checked in, the kids were hanging out across the lobby watching cartoons:




Not too big for the little chairs!




This one’s much better in terms of lighting:



They really have a beautiful sitting area here, I wouldn’t mind something like this in my house!



We had done online check-in, but there was no wait to check in anyway. Our room, however, wasn’t ready yet, which I kind of expected. We gave them a cell number so that we could received a text once our room was ready and set out in search of food.

Going outside, we found this:



Olivia’s Café. Looked good, but we had more of a counter service meal in mind. I was not familiar at all with Old Key West and wasn’t in the mood to explore right then. We needed breakfast, people! And Old Key West didn’t seem to have the food court we wanted to find.

Knowing we were close to Port Orleans Riverside, and being familiar with the resort since we’d stayed there before, we got back in the van and drove over there. We knew right where the food court was (ok, I might have made one wrong move) and what we wanted to order!


Pancakes!



Allison had Mickey waffles.









After finishing up at breakfast without a room ready text, we decided we wanted to go to Epcot. This was the day of the Monstrous Summer 24 Hour Magic Kingdom event. We knew it was packed over there and were hoping to go there later that night.

Wouldn’t you know it, while on the way to Epcot I got the text that our room was ready! Luckily, we hadn’t gone so far that we couldn’t turn around, so turn around we did!

The time was 11:14, precisely. We had a 1:00 lunch ADR at Rose & Crown Pub, but knew we’d have time to check out our room, unpack the luggage from the van, and still make it back in time.






Welcome Home!


Panorama of the (partial) living/dining/kitchen area. (That’s the other side of the door from the previous picture, leading outside in the middle.) The master bed/bath and laundry room are down a hallway off the hallway between the front door and kitchen (to the left of the door in this picture)



Master bed/bath panorama!



Tub/sink area in master bath.


Shower/potty area.

This room linked up with the master bathroom, however, there was only one potty and one shower in the whole place. That got to be a nuisance after about not much time at all!



There was much more counter space on the other side of the shower.


Sometime earlier, the girls had time to buy those cute little tiara barrettes. I think it must have been in the general store at Old Key West right after we checked in.



But, we couldn’t waste any more time in the room, Epcot was waiting for us!

 

[princess_momma]

Garden of the Gods is amazing!!! We do have some crazy beautiful views here, but I'm a few hours north of there! And I've never done the horse back riding there, sounds fun! Glad you had a good time!

I'm hoping you guys eventually made it over to Olivia's!! I never did and I regret it...sounds so good!! You are making me miss OKW sooo much!! *sigh* They were full (DVC wise) for my upcoming trip so Pop it was. Next time, hopefully.

Can't wait to hear about Epcot!

 

[Goofy442]

Beautiful pictures of the Garden of the Gods. We have only stayed in a studio, so it's nice to see other pictures of rooms. OKW is the closest DVC resort to the kennels. Love that it takes us minutes instead of ten to fifteen to go see her.

 

[Bridora]

Garden of the Gods is amazing!!! We do have some crazy beautiful views here, but I'm a few hours north of there! And I've never done the horse back riding there, sounds fun! Glad you had a good time!

I'm hoping you guys eventually made it over to Olivia's!! I never did and I regret it...sounds so good!! You are making me miss OKW sooo much!! *sigh* They were full (DVC wise) for my upcoming trip so Pop it was. Next time, hopefully.

Can't wait to hear about Epcot!

Horseback riding was so much fun! We had to walk through a short section of a residential neighborhood to actually get to Garden of the Gods, which was weird! I'd imagine that would get old pretty quickly if you lived in that neighborhood and were always having to watch out for groups of tourists on horseback!

Beautiful pictures of the Garden of the Gods. We have only stayed in a studio, so it's nice to see other pictures of rooms. OKW is the closest DVC resort to the kennels. Love that it takes us minutes instead of ten to fifteen to go see her.

We've never taken our dog to Disney before, she usually stays with my in laws while we're gone. I can see why you Old Key West is a great place to stay if you've got a pet in the kennels, though! Do they let you take your dog out for walks?

 

[Bridora]

World Showcase Welcomes us Back!​

It was around 12:30 when we made it over to Epcot. While we were passing through Future World on our way to the UK, we made a pit stop at Test Track to pick up some Fast Passes. This year we had made the decision to get those Test Track Fast Passes first, then get ones for Soarin’ (if they were still available) afterwards. I think it was a good decision, the standby line for Test track was at 110 minutes and the Fast Pass return time was 5:35 - 6:35.

Our Rose & Crown Dining Room ADR was for 1:25.




We arrived a little bit early, at 1:00, but went ahead and checked-in and were given a pager. We were told the pager would work all around the UK Pavilion, which was great because it was hot out! We crossed the street to do a little shopping while we waited.


It was only about 5 - 10 minutes before our table was ready. We were shown to a great little table outside on the patio. I’m sure that would have been a great table to watch Illuminations from, but I don’t think they would have let us hang around that long!








The menu:



We had prefaced this meal at a “new” (to us) restaurant by telling the kids it was OK if they didn’t order anything but a drink. Allison can be pretty picky about food, and we weren’t sure how adventurous Jess would be about hers. We told them we’d much rather pick them up something elsewhere than order food here they wouldn’t eat.







Jess said she wasn’t very hungry anyway, and Allison wanted to wait for pizza from Via Napoli. I wasn’t sure if they still sold pizza by the slice or not, but told her we would check.

We ordered a cheese platter for our appetizer thinking the kids might like that.



Trio of United Kingdom Cheese - with accompaniments $9.99 (allears.net.)

Unfortunately, I didn’t write down what cheese they were. It was a great appetizer, though! The kids didn’t care much for it, but Davis and I still talk about it!


I ordered the English Chicory and Watercress Salad - with apples, blue cheese, candied walnuts nuts and Craisins Dried cranberry vinaigrette $7.99 (allears.net)



As did Davis, along with the Fish & Chips - Beer battered fresh fish served with house-made tartar sauce $18.99 (allears.net)



He graciously let me share a few bites of his food. Delicious!


Luke was excited to try the English Breakfast Burger - Angus beef patty with applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, fried egg and house-made HP sauce $13.99 (allears.net)



And I was excited that he let me take a picture of it! He wasn’t able to finish it all, but said it was very good. I agree! I took a bite of it after he was finished and I would recommend it!

We had great service and were very entertained by some little birds who were also dining on the patio.





When we finished up at Rose & Crown, we split up. I’ve never really been a big fan of the whole divide and conquer while in Disney World, but we’ve done it a few times before and it really works out well, I’d just rather spend time with all of us together.



Anyhow, we divided and conquered. The boys trekked back to Future World to pick up those Soarin’ Fast Passes. The great thing about modern technology was that we knew they were still available! (The return time on those ended up being 7:10 - 8:10)

The girls and I went back into the store to purchase a few things they had seen before lunch and look around a little more before getting Allison something to eat.





Allison has recently gotten into Dr. Who and had been excited to find t-shirts in the shop. Jess had found some Rolling Stones merchandise and wanted to get something for her Dad, who is a big fan. Souvenirs purchased, we headed out in search of Italy.







And apparently, treated that stroller family like they were Brangelina or something!


We stopped for a bit in France to watch the end of the street show where the guy climbs up all those chairs and doesn’t come crashing down:





Partway around the world, I got a text from the guys who were living it up in Future World with Figment. I took this picture to let them know where we were:




And continued to make use of the panoramic feature:



By the time we made it to Italy, Allison was starving.


Bad news; they only sell by the slice during holidays. I was really hoping that it was busy enough to have the pizza window open, but no such luck. Allison was lost, and had no idea now what she wanted to eat.


She ultimately decided on a pretzel from Germany, which was good, but I don’t think it was a very good substitute for pizza, especially not for Via Napoli pizza.


We continued our trip around the world.





The girls decided they needed some ice cream by the time we made it to the Outpost.






They enjoyed their ice cream in the shade near the drums. And I tried to contact the boys to see where we’d meet back up.





The boys were headed our way, and we decided to meet back up in Norway for…




Maelstrom! And Jess’ Official 1st Disney Ride! Even though it was 20 minutes, the wait wasn’t bad, and she enjoyed her trip through Norway!










Up next: Allison, Luke, and Jess take on Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure!

 

[Goofy442]

Oh yes, we can see her any time that we want. I walk and feed her in the morning and then we come back around five to walk and feed her again. They only walk her at night around nine. We went to go see some friends in Melbourne and took her out for the day. Love the pictures and I'm going to have to remember instead of texting where we are take a picture of our location. Kill two birds with one stone, my location and a picture to keep. It's great you get to be with Jess to experience her firsts for Disney.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm with you on the divide and conquer. I don't like it much. I like for all of us to be together as much as we can while on vacation. We are busy during our every day lives and often pass each other like ships in the night.

Your meals at Rose & Crown look pretty darn good. We've only eaten there once and we found it pretty bland but that comes from somebody who likes a bit of spicy kick to their food. We may have to give it another try sometime.

 

[tinkgurl]

I miss Old Key West so much! Loved the room pictures.

Looks like we were on opposite sides of the park that day at Epcot!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I was looking at the Rose and Crown menu and wondered what Bubble and Squeak was. I hadn't heard of that one before.

 

[princess_momma]

Rose & Crown looks so delicious! I am dying to try the Scotch Egg on the menu and for my entree, might have to order what Luke got! That breakfast burger looks delightful!

Too bad Allison couldn't get her pizza! Via Napoli pizza is the best! Hope that pretzel was still good. Pretzels happen to be one of the things I randomly crave most in life. Cheesy, salty, bready goodness.

Yay Maelstrom! Love that ride! I have no idea why.

Can't wait to hear about Perry! I love him!

 

[Bridora]

Oh yes, we can see her any time that we want. I walk and feed her in the morning and then we come back around five to walk and feed her again. They only walk her at night around nine. We went to go see some friends in Melbourne and took her out for the day. Love the pictures and I'm going to have to remember instead of texting where we are take a picture of our location. Kill two birds with one stone, my location and a picture to keep. It's great you get to be with Jess to experience her firsts for Disney.

That's great that you can visit whenever - I'm sure she's always glad to see you too! Also great that you can check her out for the day without losing her reservation! It was so much fun to have a "newbie" with us!

I miss Old Key West so much! Loved the room pictures.

Looks like we were on opposite sides of the park that day at Epcot!

Thanks! I miss it too, We'll eventually make it over to the other side of park - probably crossing paths with you!

I'm with you on the divide and conquer. I don't like it much. I like for all of us to be together as much as we can while on vacation. We are busy during our every day lives and often pass each other like ships in the night.

Your meals at Rose & Crown look pretty darn good. We've only eaten there once and we found it pretty bland but that comes from somebody who likes a bit of spicy kick to their food. We may have to give it another try sometime.

Rose & Crown was pretty good! You know, I have a friend who carries around a really small bottle of Tabasco in her purse, maybe that would solve your problem!

I was looking at the Rose and Crown menu and wondered what Bubble and Squeak was. I hadn't heard of that one before.

I didn't what it was either, so I Googled it, lol! Wikipedia says:

Bubble and squeak is a traditional British dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The main ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, or any other leftover vegetables can be added. The chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potatoes or crushed roast potatoes until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides. The dish is so named because it makes bubbling and squeaking sounds during the cooking process.[1] It is often served with cold meat from the Sunday roast, and pickles or brown sauce, or as an accompaniment to a full English breakfast.

Interesting!

Rose & Crown looks so delicious! I am dying to try the Scotch Egg on the menu and for my entree, might have to order what Luke got! That breakfast burger looks delightful!

Too bad Allison couldn't get her pizza! Via Napoli pizza is the best! Hope that pretzel was still good. Pretzels happen to be one of the things I randomly crave most in life. Cheesy, salty, bready goodness.

Yay Maelstrom! Love that ride! I have no idea why.

Can't wait to hear about Perry! I love him!

The breakfast burger was really good! I'm surprised we haven't made them at home yet!

She was pretty sad about not getting pizza, and I could understand - I was wanting a bite of it, too! She likes cinnamon pretzels the best, so this one was a close 3rd in her book.

Maelstrom is one of our favorites, too! Just something about it...

 

[Bridora]

Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure​

I like how the CMs at the mission wagons are always so careful to explain the rules and how to share the communicators – thanks Disney!


After getting their assignment, Allison, Jess, and Luke hot-footed it to Mexico. They probably had to save the Tri-Country area from Dr. Doof.





I say probably because I don’t know much about the mission details. Since there were 3 of them, Davis and I just hung back and let kids go with it.




Inside the Mexico pavilion is one of favorite places in World Showcase, so I didn’t mind one bit wandering around and taking pictures.



Getting more clues…


I don’t know if the kids are just getting older or if it’s a bit different since changing from Kim Possible, but the kids said it wasn’t as fun. I know Davis mentioned that he didn’t think there was as much “stuff” going on as he remembered.

Sadly, that was the kids’ only mission; they didn’t want to do another one.

After returning the communicator, we hopped on the “boat ride in Mexico” and looked around for Donald. Can’t pass up an opportunity to ride that one!


Since we were back around to Future World, we decided to swing by Club Cool for some refreshment and also to have our unsuspecting guest taste, what else?




Beverly! Really, she said it wasn’t that bad.

Club Cool is a great place to go cool off and have a refreshing beverage or two or three or four!


The kids wanted to do the Runtime thing in Innoventions where you star in your own video game. I can’t remember what it was called, but we went through both West and East looking for it. It turns out that it isn’t there anymore. The kids were a little disappointed, but quickly got over it and hopped in line for Sum of All Thrills.

I hopped in line too while Davis talked on the phone:




I rode with Luke and let him do all the designing.






There go the girls!





Upside down!


We went over to Mission:Space afterwards to check out the wait time on the Orange side. The kids were going to be adventurous this year and try it out, even if their Momma was a bit worried.

However, when we got over there the wait was longer than we wanted and the Green side said 5 minutes, so we got in line for that. Unfortunately, we ended up waiting close to 25 minutes before it was all said and done, all the while watching the Orange side riders zoom past us. Oh well!


By the time we were finished with that it was just about time that we could use our Test Track Fastpasses, so that’s where we went next!





We were curious as to what it was going to be like. This would be our first time to ride it since the refurb.

I was trying to keep it spoiler free, but had heard many people call it “Tron Track” I really don’t remember much about the queue area, but we weren’t in there long because of our fastpasses.


Luke designed our car.



While the girls worked on another one.






Luke’s finished product looked pretty nice!



As did the girls’!



It was something fun to do to pass time while you’re waiting, but I don’t really think it had much of a point other than that. There was mention of comparing our designs at the end of the ride, but it mattered not in actuality.


I miss the old Test Track.


The kids had fun playing in the post ride area:



Posing with cars and Disney icons:






It was getting close to 7:00 and we were starting to think about eating again.

And there was always the big 24 hour party going on at the Magic Kingdom to think about. I really wanted to make it over there!


We found time to squeeze in a quick spin on Nemo (5 minute posted wait time, actual wait time: the time it took us to walk through the queue – love those waits!)







We spent some time looking in all the big aquariums afterwards. We still had Soarin’ Fastpasses to use, but we also enjoy looking at all the fish and don’t usually spend near enough time in there!







Did you spot the divers in those last two pictures?


How about in this one?



It was lots of fun watching the people in the tanks, too!




Continued below...

 

[Bridora]

Found a hidden Mickey!







We eventually pulled ourselves away from the Seas and over to the Land to ride Soarin’ at 7:20. (notes are great, aren't they?)








Davis was thinking ahead and asked the CM who puts you in the holding pens for boarding if we would be able to ride top row, center. She said it wouldn’t be a problem, as long as we didn’t mind waiting just a bit longer, of course we didn’t! Once she was ready to load that one, she put us on! That’s the best seating to experience Soarin’, especially for your first time!


Jess loved it – as did the rest of us! Soarin’ remains one of favorite rides – I love everything about it from take-off to the way everyone still claps as it’s ending!


After that, it was back to Old Key West in search of food. And a decision on that looming question: will we or won’t we make it to the Magic Kingdom?

 

[Goofy442]

We said the same thing about the new Test Track, we like the old Test Track better. When we have someone with us who is brand new to WDW we stop by Club Cool and tell them, Beverly is good try it. Well someone thinks it's good, but I can't even swallow it.

 

[wiigirl]

Cute pics!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I don't dislike the new Test Track but I wasn't wowed by it either. Like you, I think the design your own car thing was put there to take your mind off how long you are waiting. LOL!

 

[emmysmommy]

Getting caught up here......Earl of Sandwich is definitely worth the wait! You toughed it out a long time to eat a late dinner there.

I would love to stay at OKW sometime and that way I would get to try Olivias. I can see where 1 bathroom may have gotten old quickly.

Rose & Crown sounds like you enjoyed it but argh! that Via Napoli didn't sell pizza by the slice. I agree, a pretzel isn't the most satisfying substitute. Perhaps the ice-cream was.

Oh NOOOO!! You Beverly'd one of your kids! What parent would do that? (uhhh yeah, I did that to my DD!) I'm a fan of Sum of All Thrills. What a blast!

 

[princess_momma]

Sum of All Thrills is a favorite of mine...so cool what they can do with technology!

I am so intrigued by the new Test Track...I'm sure either way Landon will love it, but I am a little apprehensive about it!

I'm so glad Soarin' was a hit! I love that ride...it's always so fun seeing it through the eyes of newbies and that's something I'm especially excited for! I think I'm going to request front and center too...gotta do it right the first time!!

 

[Bridora]

So..........first of all, I just want to apologize for being 1,000,000 days behind on this Trip Report. I do have a very good reason; I got a teaching job!

I'm very excited, but it has completely zapped all my Dis time. I hope to get caught up soon, though, and have another update for you all.

If you're still checking my TR, thanks for sticking around!

We said the same thing about the new Test Track, we like the old Test Track better. When we have someone with us who is brand new to WDW we stop by Club Cool and tell them, Beverly is good try it. Well someone thinks it's good, but I can't even swallow it.

I liked the old Test Track because it had more of a story to it I think.

The Beverly trick is indeed a good one!

Cute pics!

Thanks!

I don't dislike the new Test Track but I wasn't wowed by it either. Like you, I think the design your own car thing was put there to take your mind off how long you are waiting. LOL!

Yeah, it's not really dislike, but compared to the old one.... I do like having something to do while we wait, but I was expecting it to be more tied in with the ride itself.

Getting caught up here......Earl of Sandwich is definitely worth the wait! You toughed it out a long time to eat a late dinner there.

I would love to stay at OKW sometime and that way I would get to try Olivias. I can see where 1 bathroom may have gotten old quickly.

Rose & Crown sounds like you enjoyed it but argh! that Via Napoli didn't sell pizza by the slice. I agree, a pretzel isn't the most satisfying substitute. Perhaps the ice-cream was.

Oh NOOOO!! You Beverly'd one of your kids! What parent would do that? (uhhh yeah, I did that to my DD!) I'm a fan of Sum of All Thrills. What a blast!

Yup, Earl of Sandwich is worth the wait!

We adults enjoyed Rose & Crown, but those pesky kids couldn't find something "normal" enough to order, !

Beverly=pay back!

Sum of All Thrills is a favorite of mine...so cool what they can do with technology!

I am so intrigued by the new Test Track...I'm sure either way Landon will love it, but I am a little apprehensive about it!

I'm so glad Soarin' was a hit! I love that ride...it's always so fun seeing it through the eyes of newbies and that's something I'm especially excited for! I think I'm going to request front and center too...gotta do it right the first time!!

I know it - I really do like Sum of All Thrills - even though it's not a "real" roller coaster.

I'm so glad Davis asked to ride front and center on Soarin' - definitely the best way to experience it - even though I still love it in the back on the side!

 

[emmysmommy]

Congratulations on your teaching job!!! I completely understand busy life robbing you of Dis time!!