Rock On!! Because Devil Horns Do Belong at Disney. An Oct TR Updated 9/5 x10!

[Chicago Mo]

Our husbands would get along famously just for their music interests!

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute pics at the Visa M&G, sorry they took so few though!

Jim's poses are too funny!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Wanted to stop and say Happy Easter!

 

[Pluto0809]

These are a RIOT!!! I love the way he poses!

He is a bit of a goofball sometimes!

Sleep rides are sometimes needed..

Definitely!

I'm with Mickey. I think I would've been scared of Jim's shirt too! Hahaha.

That one is tame compared to others he owns. I had to approve everything he was bringing.

The tradition of taking pictures after TT is too funny. Guys.

I'm sure we will be taking more in a few weeks.!

Our husbands would get along famously just for their music interests!

Lacuna Coil is Jim's favorite band right now. He's seen them at least four times in the last year.

Cute pics at the Visa M&G, sorry they took so few though!

I don't understand why they couldn't take more pictures. We had such a cute interaction with Mickey running away from Jim, I wish the photographer would have captured that.

Jim's poses are too funny!

He is a goofball for sure!

Wanted to stop and say Happy Easter!

Thanks Mo! You have a great weekend too!

 

[Pluto0809]

Well I totally blew off work today and FINISHED writing this TR! I will be posting each day next week to get it finished by the time we leave which is two weeks from today!

Since we had started in Canada on our previous Epcot day, we headed towards Mexico this time. It was starting to get crowded but this was nothing compared to how it got later that night.





We headed straight to the Gran Fiesta Tour and got in line.



Yep, you read that right, there was a line for GFT that started outside of the ride area by the restaurant.



I tried some artsy photos while we waited.



Check out that line!



It really didn’t take very long to get through and before long we were off on our cruise. As usual sit back and enjoy the plethora of pictures I took.



























For some reason, the fireworks on the ceiling at the end of the ride fascinate me. I try every time I ride to get a good picture of them but haven’t been successful. Unfortunately the new camera failed me this time. I will get a picture someday!

We walked around a bit after our ride and looked at the booths but didn’t buy anything. It was almost 4 pm at this point and I saw on the times guide that Mexico Donald would be meeting at 4:10 pm. We headed outside to the greet area and got in line. We were about fourth or fifth in line. It had been pretty cool that morning but now in the late afternoon, it was getting warm. We waited there for a while and the line continued to build. But it got past 4:10 pm and no Donald. The Mariachi band came out of the gate in the back about 4:20 and told us that Donald was meeting inside the Pyramid instead of in his usual spot. We headed back inside to find that we were now about 30th in line. Jim was determined to meet him so we stayed.

I had gotten really hot when we were waiting outside in the sun so I decided to go and get a frozen margarita while Jim waited in line.



By the time I got back inside, Jim was almost to Donald. As usual, Jim wanted to meet Donald by himself first and then I joined them afterwards. I was only halfway through my margarita but I just set it on a bench for a minute when we went up.









Jim got one last hug in and then we headed out of Mexico.



Overall I think we waited 20-30 minutes but the smile on Jim’s face in the last picture was worth it. This turned out to be our last character greet for the trip and it was a lot of fun.

Up Next: Trolls, T-Shirts and Beads

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like we're in for a posting and reading frenzy.

There was a queue at the GFT??
I don't think I've ever seen a queue for that attraction. Wow!

Love the pics of Jim with Donald.

 

[missangelalexis]

Ugh I hate when they change M&G locations and no one tells you! Great pics with Donald though, Jim looks SO SO happyt in that last pic, which is what Disney is all about!

 

[LindseyLou2222]

Great TR!

 

[marDgreen88]

I love Gran Fiesta Tour! I feel like it's very underrated... maybe that's just me! Haha. Aww, cute pics with Donald! I love his Mexican outfit.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Ugh I hate when they change M&G locations and no one tells you! Great pics with Donald though, Jim looks SO SO happyt in that last pic, which is what Disney is all about!

yeah he's NOT a fan of WDW

 

[Pluto0809]

Sounds like we're in for a posting and reading frenzy.

Well, I think I only have three more updates. We are getting near the end here!

There was a queue at the GFT??
I don't think I've ever seen a queue for that attraction. Wow!

I've never seen one like that before either, I think it was mainly because it was Friday night during Food and Wine.

Love the pics of Jim with Donald.

Thanks!

Ugh I hate when they change M&G locations and no one tells you! Great pics with Donald though, Jim looks SO SO happyt in that last pic, which is what Disney is all about!

I know, that was so annoying. I'm not even sure why they moved him, it was a little warm that afternoon but nothing like it gets during the summer. He definitely loves doing meet and greets!

Great TR!

Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it!

I love Gran Fiesta Tour! I feel like it's very underrated... maybe that's just me! Haha. Aww, cute pics with Donald! I love his Mexican outfit.

I love it too! It was a must do with Jim since he loves Donald.

yeah he's NOT a fan of WDW

Well, for sure he likes the meet and greets. He wants to meet Anna and Elsa when we go in less than two weeks. I'm really hoping that the line doesn't get to be three hours long by 9:10 am like it did yesterday!

 

[Pluto0809]

We slowly made our way towards Norway as I worked on my margarita. I ended up only drinking about 2/3 of it before I threw it out. I’m sad to say they are just too big for me and I don’t think I’ll be getting another one any time soon.

We headed into Norway and back towards Maelstrom which was our next FP+.





You may laugh about having a having a FP+ for Maelstrom but check out the wait time.



Yep, that says 35 minutes. While I do enjoy the ride, no way am I waiting 35 minutes for it.



We were up to the loading dock in no time and I started searching the mural for the hidden Mickey and I finally found it!



It’s much smaller than I thought it was and I had to zoom my camera way in to get the picture. We boarded our boat and I proceeded to try to take pictures. I was getting extremely frustrated because nothing was coming out and then I realized that I had never zoomed out after taking the hidden Mickey picture. Duh! I did figure it out in time to get these last two pictures.





Jim immediately spotted the troll in the dump shop and had to get his picture taken.



I also checked out the Frozen merchandise which was very abundant since the movie hadn’t come out yet.







If only I had known at that time how popular the stuff was going to be……

We headed out and moved on to China.





We saw Mulan out and tried to get in line but it was already closed. I checked the times guide and it was her last meet and greet for the day.

We moved on into the store where we looked at the cute doggie coats.



I thought about getting one for Sierra but she really is not a girly dog. Half the time she comes in from outside covered in mud and needing a bath so I could not see her wearing one of these expensive coats.

Jim checked out the Chinese Zodiac signs and figured out he was a rabbit.



I happen to be an Ox.

Remember back on day two when Jim said he wasn’t going to buy any t-shirts, then proceeded to buy 3 that night? Well, he found #4 in the China store.





We walked through the gardens as we exited China and headed toward the Africa Outpost.







When we got to the Africa Post there was a stop I needed to make. I had been wanted to get a few of the necklaces that are made out of old Disney park maps. The first set I got was mostly orange in color:



That one is a little shorter and is called a “choker” length. It’s really not as short as you would normally see when a necklace is described as a choker. The cost of that length was $15. The second set I got was the regular length and cost $20. The set looks pretty dark in the picture but it’s really more of a forest green color.



I love these necklaces and wear them all the time. I get a lot of complements on them and no one even knows they are Disney related!

Up Next: Now It’s Time To Say Goodbye

 

[Chicago Mo]

the pictures are AWESOME!!!

love the grand fiesta ride. especially the skeleton band.
Well i believe you learned your lesson trying to get in with Jim and Donald.. good for you.. Jim had his Donald fix!! so funny...

i cannot believe malestorm was that long of a wait. crazy!!!!

Oh what people would do for the Frozen merchandise!!! Thankfully i was able to get Meg everything before christmas. she has most of what she wants. now it's the baby sven and an olaf. i might be able to get something like this in 2017...

LOVED the dog outfits!!! So cute!

Can't believe you found that TINY hidden Mickey! CONGRATS!!! now i will be on the hunt!!!


Just an observation looks like the troll is going to smack Jim on the toush..

GREAT BEADS!!! Your giving me all my fun stuff for Sept!!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Good thing you had a FP+ for Maelstrom!

Those doggie coats are adorable. And I love your necklaces!

 

[Luvchefmic]

So Jim's a rabbit and you're an ox I'm a horse and when I was last at China Epcot was highly disappointed since this IS the Year of the Horse they had really nothing

Not they they were sold out, believe me I asked, they just never had anything besides a t-shirt I already had, the litho like in Jim's hand in the picture, and a wall calendar that our mutual friend Ed surprised me with He and Fred are the same year and were both going through life thinking they were rats and to both their surprise they are boars/pigs

I have a girly girly doxie but even though I always liked those coats there's no way I'm paying those prices !

When we went that famous big troll was not there and the CMs Ed asked over and over looked at him and didn't have a clue

Ah woulda coulda shoulda all that Frozen merchandise I have often said too if ONLY I knew I could have made a killing on eBay

Hope you're planning a FP+ for the frozen girls M & G at MK, I can't see how that line is going to get anywhere near normal for standby line anytime soon

 

[PrincessInOz]

I've recently seen a few people get those necklaces. Problem is...I found out about them AFTER I was at WDW. Wish I'd known sooner. I would have loved to have gotten one for myself so that I could have the Disney link. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pluto0809]

the pictures are AWESOME!!!

Thanks!

love the grand fiesta ride. especially the skeleton band.
Well i believe you learned your lesson trying to get in with Jim and Donald.. good for you.. Jim had his Donald fix!! so funny...

Oh yeah, I know better now than to get inbetween Jim and his Donald!

i cannot believe malestorm was that long of a wait. crazy!!!!

Funny thing is, I've never seen the ride with less than a 25 minute wait. So to me, getting the FP+ was a good idea. Of course now that it is tier 1 with TT and Soarin' I doubt I'll ever get another FP+ for it.

Oh what people would do for the Frozen merchandise!!! Thankfully i was able to get Meg everything before christmas. she has most of what she wants. now it's the baby sven and an olaf. i might be able to get something like this in 2017...

So glad you were able to get everything Meg wanted. Have you seen the prices that stuff is selling for on Ebay?

LOVED the dog outfits!!! So cute!

They are very cute but also very expensive. I want to say at least $30?

Can't believe you found that TINY hidden Mickey! CONGRATS!!! now i will be on the hunt!!!

Well, I had seen it before in another TR so I had some idea what I was looking for. It's just much smaller than I thought it would be so I had a hard time finding it.

Just an observation looks like the troll is going to smack Jim on the toush..

Or maybe goose him.

GREAT BEADS!!! Your giving me all my fun stuff for Sept!!!

They are pretty fun! And compared to some of the souvenirs you can get, they aren't too pricy.

Good thing you had a FP+ for Maelstrom!

I was definitely glad. We would have ended up skipping it if we hadn't had the FP.

Those doggie coats are adorable. And I love your necklaces!

They are adorable but soooo expensive! The necklaces on the other hand are a great deal.

So Jim's a rabbit and you're an ox I'm a horse and when I was last at China Epcot was highly disappointed since this IS the Year of the Horse they had really nothing

I knew you were a horse! We are doing "Year of the Horse" at the local shelter where I volunteer to raise money for a small barn. I'm still trying to talk them into doing some kind of T-shirt to sell.

Not they they were sold out, believe me I asked, they just never had anything besides a t-shirt I already had, the litho like in Jim's hand in the picture, and a wall calendar that our mutual friend Ed surprised me with He and Fred are the same year and were both going through life thinking they were rats and to both their surprise they are boars/pigs

I have a girly girly doxie but even though I always liked those coats there's no way I'm paying those prices !

They are expensive, aren't they?

When we went that famous big troll was not there and the CMs Ed asked over and over looked at him and didn't have a clue

That's weird. I wonder if he was removed for good? If I remember, I'll have to check next week.

Ah woulda coulda shoulda all that Frozen merchandise I have often said too if ONLY I knew I could have made a killing on eBay

I know, that was my exact thought. I could have funded several Disney trips if I wanted too! Of course I would probably feel guilty and end up offering them to friends on the DIS at cost.

Hope you're planning a FP+ for the frozen girls M & G at MK, I can't see how that line is going to get anywhere near normal for standby line anytime soon

Unfortunately I was not able to get a FP+. Jim is an early riser anyways so I'm planning on being at the park very early so we can be one of the first through the gates for rope drop.

I've recently seen a few people get those necklaces. Problem is...I found out about them AFTER I was at WDW. Wish I'd known sooner. I would have loved to have gotten one for myself so that I could have the Disney link. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

One of those people you saw was probably me on my other TR. I got a third set when I was there in February and already wrote about that part. Bummer you didn't get a set but it's something to add to the list for next time!

 

[Pluto0809]

Our dinner this night was at Biergarten and was at 6:10 pm but it was only 5:30 at this point. We bypassed Germany for the moment and went on to Italy to look around. We stopped for a minute to watch the trains.





And then quickly walked through the stores in Italy. Other than wine, I don’t think I’ve ever purchased something from the Italy stores although I do love both restaurants.





We backtracked to Germany and looked through the glass store for a bit. I still couldn’t decide which Pluto I wanted. Since we were eating dinner right next door, I figured I could think about it over dinner and go back afterwards.
We checked in at the restaurant about 15 minutes early.





We were standing right by the restaurant sign so Jim said I needed to take a picture of it.



So Biergarten was 100% Jim’s pick. I did not have it on the original list, we were going to eat at Via Napoli on this night. But when I showed him the restaurants we were eating at, he asked why there was nothing from Germany or Mexico. Well Mexico really was out because I couldn’t find something on the menu that I would eat. But I reviewed the Biergarten menu again and reluctantly changed the ADR to there. Funny thing is, the night before this, Jim asked me why in the heck we were eating at Biergarten. He did not remember insisting on it at all! I did try to find an alternative and there was a Garden Grill reservation available but he shot that one down and said let’s just go to Biergarten.

Our buzzer went off right at our ADR time and we were lead back to our table of 8. If you didn’t know, Biergarten seats you with other parties. We were at a table with a family of four and a mother/daughter pair. We were on the end next to the mother/daughter and even though I tried to strike up a conversation, they were not very friendly.

When we sat down, the band was playing but we only caught the last few minutes and then they went on break for the rest of our meal.





The restaurant is very cute and built on tiers so everyone can see the stage. We were on the highest tier away from the stage.



Our waitress came and Jim had to show off and order his drink in German. Then we headed up to the buffet. I really struggled with this meal. Most of the items on the buffet were either pork or sausage. Well, I can’t eat pork, it really racks my stomach, and I don’t like sausage. Jim on the other hand was in heaven. This was the food he grew up on in his Grandmother’s kitchen. She and her husband emigrated from Germany when Jim’s Dad was 5.

I only took pictures of our first plates (well I only had one but more on that later). Here’s Jim’s:



And here’s mine:



I really have no idea what the dark brown stuff was at this point, probably some kind of beef. At the top was chicken and I see some potatoes there also. I thought for a minute that I was saved when I saw the pretzel bread but it turned out to be awful. It was hard as a rock and tasted pretty much like cardboard. Jim said that is what German bread is supposed to taste like. That was everything on the buffet that I would eat and I did not feel that any of it was worth going back for seconds.

Jim on the other hand must have had at least three plates. I did get a piece of Black Forest Cake for dessert but did not take a picture. It was just ok, I knew it had cherries which I don’t care for so I just picked them out.

Jim had a blast talking to the waitress during the meal and asked me to take a picture of them afterwards.



He was a least a little generous and decided to get one with me also.



So if you ask Jim’s opinion of the meal, it was one of his favorites of the week. As for me, I don’t think I will go back any time soon. The food was just not to my taste and I struggled because I’m so picky. Sitting with people who were not interested in talking also make the meal kind of awkward. At least I can say I’ve eaten there now. This was the first time I think I have ever left a Disney restaurant without feeling stuffed.

We headed back out and into the glass store once again where I finally decided which Pluto to get.





While we were waiting for the CM to go in the back and get one for me, Jim pointed out the Pluto thimble that was in a case on the counter. I hadn’t seen it on my previous trips around the store. So went the CM came back I apologized and sent her back to the storeroom to find the thimble for me.



Jim wanted to make one more round of the Germany stores to see if there was anything we missed. He found an interesting hat but decided not to take it home with him.



What he did find was T-shirt #5.



I giggle every time I see that shirt because it sounds like a swear word to me for some reason. But it just means “I am” in German.

We moved onto Italy where I stopped for a glass of my favorite wine Rosa Regale.



Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Continued From Previous Post

We skipped over the American Pavilion, Jim said he didn’t want to see the show, and headed to Japan. I wanted to do Pick a Pearl so I could get the “Ariel” necklace. You’ll see what it is in a minute. I handed Jim the camera and he did a good job photographing the CM but didn’t get me in one picture.















I ordered my necklace which would be ready in about a half an hour and then Jim said he needed to use a restroom. We headed to Morocco because that was the nearest bathroom but it was insanely crowded at this point and he was having problems with his shy bladder again. We moved onto the UK in hopes that the bathroom would be less crowded there. But as you can see, the crowds were relentless.



I knew as soon as he headed into the restroom that he would not be successful. I decided that when he came out, I was going to send him back to the room. I couldn’t leave yet because I had to go back and pick up my necklace. Plus I had one last FP+ for the night that I was not going to miss. Inside I was secretly pretty excited because this would give me a couple of hours of solo time on my last night there.

I was right and he wasn’t successful so I suppressed my excitement, gave him my purchases from the night and directions on how to get to the buses and he took off.

I turned around and headed back towards Japan. I decided that since I hadn’t eaten much at dinner, I needed another order of the Beef Short Ribs from the France booth. Despite the crowds, the line wasn’t too bad and I got my order and managed to find the corner of a bench to sit and enjoy them. I didn’t take a picture that night but here’s the one from the first night at Food and Wine.



Oh, man these were just as good the second time around. All I know is that they better be on the menu for this year’s Food and Wine! I need another plate of those ASAP.

After I finished, I started towards Japan and something made me check my phone. Well I had missed three calls from Jim. I immediately had visions of him lost in some remote corner of WDW. The boy is seriously directionally challenged. He cannot read a map to save his life and probably could never find his way anywhere without GPS. I called him right back and luckily he wasn’t lost. Once he got out of World Showcase, Future World was pretty much deserted. He found the restrooms next to SE and was finally successful on that front. He thought I was mad at him for having to leave which was far from the truth. I was actually a little disappointed he was going to stay. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and love spending time with him but I also adore solo time at WDW.

He decided that since I had some Beef Short Ribs, he needed another Beef Empanada from the Argentina booth. I knew he would never find it on his own so I stayed on the phone with him while he walked all the way back to the booth. I told him to call me back after he ordered and I would talk him back to the Land building were we would meet. I ran into the Japan store and picked up my necklace. See why I called it an “Ariel” necklace?



It took me a while to get around the WS with the crowds and Jim called and said he had found his way back to the Land building and was waiting outside for me. I was so proud that he had found it all by himself!

I took the back path that leads from WS and comes out by the Imagination building. I did get stuck behind a very drunk group of 20 somethings but they were happy drunks so it wasn’t too bad.

I meet up with Jim and we headed into the building to use the last FP+ of the trip for Soarin!



I thought I was going to get to ride twice, once with my MB and once with Jim’s but he decided to give the ride a second try. This time we ended up in the first row and he said he liked it much better than the first time around. Go figure, the higher row scared him less.

If I had been alone, I probably would have stayed and tried to catch another ride or two but I could tell Jim was done for the night so we headed towards the exit. I did need to stop for one more thing. We had three snack credits left and I really wanted one more Mickey ice cream sandwich. But Jim then told me he had used all three of the snack credits on Empanadas. Yep, he had bought three of them to eat for breakfast the next day. I still wanted the ice cream so I just paid out of pocket for it.



I can never walk over these lights in the ground without snapping pictures.





We walked out of Epcot as Illuminations started at 10 pm. We just missed a bus but another one came fairly quickly and we were headed back to the resort in no time.

On the ride back, I asked Jim what he liked and didn’t like from the week. He said he really didn’t like anything at AK. He really hated RnRC at HS and will not ride that one again. He still wasn’t fond of Soarin’ but did much better the second time around. As for which rides he liked, he mentioned both TSM and Buzz Lightyear. He really liked Test Track and his favorite from the whole week was…… wait for it………

Tower of Terror!!! The one ride I thought for sure he would hate turned out to be his favorite of the week.

As for meals, he said his favorite was Hoop De Do followed by 50s Prime Time and Biergarten.

And then he said he wouldn’t mind coming back in three years! That make me a happy camper since up till that point he had said he wouldn’t go back for another 15 years. I immediately started planning a late 2016/early 2017 trip in my head.

We got back to the room about 10:30, did some packing and headed to bed around 11:30. My stuffed animals had some fun while we were gone.





And we had a small surprise in the bathroom, the closest thing we got to towel animals all week.



Up Next: A Floral Tour of CSR and The End

 

[Disney9.9.10]

What gorgeous blue skies for your Epcot day! Your park map necklaces are very pretty. It is nice to have some Disney things that aren't so obviously Disney.

I've never eaten at Biergarten for the same reasons as you. I eat next to no meat, and I'm really picky with salads & things that I can't see exactly what they are made of. I'm glad that you found something to eat though, and now you can check it off of your list of restaurants you've been to.

I love your Ariel necklace, very pretty!