Sit down! Buckle up! & Hang On! Mickeystoontown's Gang is going to Walley World! 5/15

[mickeystoontown]

Good morning! Thank you for your wonderful Mother's Day wishes! I hope that you all had a beautiful day as well!

We worked our behinds off this weekend getting things in order before we leave for vacation. Lovethattink, I'm sorry that I missed your call. I'm really bad about not keeping my cellphone turned on or forgetting to turn the ringer on since I leave it on vibrate at work. JJ was so cute though and I saved the message.

I need some info for those of you who have gone to Sea World recently. They have a promo where you can pay $10 more a ticket for the all day dining. We will only be eating lunch there since we have a dinner ADR at Ohana that evening. Should we go ahead and purchase the all day dining deal? Their site shows the participating restaurants but I don't know if they require ADRs or if they are like the Disney counter service restaurants where you just walk up.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[jenseib]

I think lovethattink can answer it for you. But I have heard Sea World meal plan is awesome. I would have to go look but I think it covers counter service and for $10, that sounds like a good deal.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I think lovethattink can answer it for you. But I have heard Sea World meal plan is awesome. I would have to go look but I think it covers counter service and for $10, that sounds like a good deal.

You are right Jen! lovethattink has sent me quite a few texts and the dining deal sounded so good that I went ahead and purchased it. I'm excited!

 

[jenseib]

You are right Jen! lovethattink has sent me quite a few texts and the dining deal sounded so good that I went ahead and purchased it. I'm excited!

Good deal!

 

[PittypatBR]

Hope your Mother's Day was great! I know you are so excited you can hardly stand it. My son, dil, and grandsons came home yesterday from WDW, and of course it was wonderful. They ate at the Wave, and said it was quite good. They also loved Ohana - it was their favorite meal of the trip. They loved the new Safari, and got to see two baby elephants playing in a pond! Otherwise, it was just all fun, and since the boys are adrenaline junkies they repeated all the coasters numerous times. The five year old liked Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain equally, and was bummed that he was too short for Rocking Roller Coaster! They brought me a great quilted Disney tote for Mother's Day, so I am stylin'!
I had a mini break at Gulf Shores with girlfriends over the weekend, so I am refreshed and ready to get back to work now.
If I get busy and don't post again before you leave, have a wonderful time and keep those notes for your TR!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hope your Mother's Day was great! I know you are so excited you can hardly stand it. My son, dil, and grandsons came home yesterday from WDW, and of course it was wonderful. They ate at the Wave, and said it was quite good. They also loved Ohana - it was their favorite meal of the trip. They loved the new Safari, and got to see two baby elephants playing in a pond! Otherwise, it was just all fun, and since the boys are adrenaline junkies they repeated all the coasters numerous times. The five year old liked Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain equally, and was bummed that he was too short for Rocking Roller Coaster! They brought me a great quilted Disney tote for Mother's Day, so I am stylin'!
I had a mini break at Gulf Shores with girlfriends over the weekend, so I am refreshed and ready to get back to work now.
If I get busy and don't post again before you leave, have a wonderful time and keep those notes for your TR!

It sounds like quite the successful trip! I'm glad to hear that they liked The Wave. Hopefully, we will too.

It sounds like your grandbabies are going to be thrill junkies!

How sweet of them to bring you back the tote!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Hi Lisa!! All caught up! Glad to hear you purchased the meal plan. Food there is $$$. Easy to spend more than $10 even just at counter service. We ate in the main building for CS food last summer. I'd have to locate the receipt, but as I recall, we got a fruit bowl, a cheeseburger, a sandwich, a milk and 2 sodas and spent $40 or so.

 

[Bridora]

Woo Hoo - we're down to single digits! We're leaving on the 22nd and will check in on the 24th, out on the 31st. We'll still be there at the same time, so hopefully we'll be able to say "hi!" at some point.

I hope you like eating at The Wave, we ate there a few years ago and enjoyed it!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Caught up, finally! I would LOVE to be able to be in MK for 24 hours. I may spend part of that sleeping on CoP or TTA, but I'd still be there!

 

[maryj11]

You are right Jen! lovethattink has sent me quite a few texts and the dining deal sounded so good that I went ahead and purchased it. I'm excited!

Sounds like a good deal to me That would be as cheap as eating at McDonalds

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi Lisa!! All caught up! Glad to hear you purchased the meal plan. Food there is $$$. Easy to spend more than $10 even just at counter service. We ate in the main building for CS food last summer. I'd have to locate the receipt, but as I recall, we got a fruit bowl, a cheeseburger, a sandwich, a milk and 2 sodas and spent $40 or so.

If I had printed our tickets online, I would have saved $10 a person. With the "free meal deal", we paid full price. So, essentially, we are eating for $10 each which, in my opinion really is a good deal. Like you said, theme park food is expensive.

Woo Hoo - we're down to single digits! We're leaving on the 22nd and will check in on the 24th, out on the 31st. We'll still be there at the same time, so hopefully we'll be able to say "hi!" at some point.

I hope you like eating at The Wave, we ate there a few years ago and enjoyed it!

Single digits baby! Yep, we'll still be in Disney at the same time! Hopefully, our paths will cross. If we can see each other on a big old cruise ship several times, we can certainly run up on each other while in Disney.

Caught up, finally! I would LOVE to be able to be in MK for 24 hours. I may spend part of that sleeping on CoP or TTA, but I'd still be there!

That may very well be what we do....taking naps in the longer shows.

Sounds like a good deal to me That would be as cheap as eating at McDonalds

Exactly! We are, basically, eating for $10 a person which I think is cheap.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Sit down! Buckle Up! & Hang On! I have many many installments coming up today! I gotta get this baby moving or else I'll not finish it up before we leave. Speaking of which, this time next week, we'll be waking up at Port Orleans French Quarter and getting ready to move over to Caribbean Beach! Yeah Baby!


The boss is in court and my desk is as clean as it can be until he gets back. So, I'm going to use this time to write and post, write and post, write and post. I'll let you all know when I'm done for the day in case you want to hold off on posting.

TTFN!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Look out! There’s a golf ball coming at ya!

What time we get up this morning will depend greatly on how long we spent in the Magic Kingdom on the 24th. We may all be dead tired and wanting to sleep in OR we could all be itching to get to Epcot and pop right outta bed. Okay, so maybe “pop right outta bed” is not hte right description because, if you’ve read any of my previous reports, you know that’s not how my hubby operates in the morning. He mumbles and grumbles and moves as slow as a doggone snail. He seems especially slow when we are on vacation. Yeah, probably just my imagination but it certainly seems that way.

Anyhoo, we’ll head to Epcot and get our first glimpse of the big old golfball known as Spaceship Earth:

See those topiaries in the picture above? We all know that they aren’t normally there but I’m hoping that there are some “leftovers” from the Flower & Garden Festival like there have been in the past.

At this point, I am pretty sure that I’ll be the designated “Runner of the Fastpasses” and will either make my way over to the new Test Track for Fastpasses or to Soarin’ for Fastpasses. In the past, I’ve got straight to Soarin’, gotten Fastpasses and then meet back up with the family. But, that was back before Test Track got a total refurb. Now, I’m thinking that both attractions are going to be inundated with people. Let’s just say, for this scenario, that I run over to Test Track and get Fastpasses while everybody else starts working their way to Soarin’. I’m a fast walker so they shouldn’t have to wait too long on me to catch up.

Hopefully, the line for Soarin’ won’t be prohibitively long and we’ll hop on in and wait for our flight over California!

Look out! There’s a golfball coming right at ya!

After smelling the wonderful ocean, the orange groves and the fresh pine, we’ll probably have some time on our hands before we can use our Fastpasses.

While we are in The Land pavilion, we might as well get our Living With The Land groove on. We are all fascinated with this attraction. As I’ve said before, I’m sure that’s because both sides of our families have always had a garden and my grandparents had a large farm when I was a kid. I loved spending time there.

Okay! Okay! I’ll stop with the pictures and move on.

If we still have time to kill before we can use our Fastpasses, we’ll move on over and visit our purple friend.

No! Not that purple friend! (He’s in another theme park of which we will not speak.)

This purple friend!

We’ll let Figment take us on a journey through our imaginations:

Have any of ya’ll seen Captain EO? Is it even still open? I’ve never been a big Michael Jackson fan other than enjoying a few of his songs so I’m thinking that it’s skipable.

We’ll mosey on over towards Test Track since I’m sure that our Fastpass time will be up. I’ve heard a lot of conflicting accounts of the new Test Track. Some love it. Some hate it. Most seem to be in between. We’ll give it a whirl and see for ourselves.

Why thank you sir, don’t mind if I do:

After zooming around in those fancy smancy blue cars, we’ll see how long the lines are for Mission Space. This will definitely be one that Mama sits out and one that she will insist we all three do together. She’ll probably find a nice shady bench to rest on.


No little wimpy side for us! We’re going for the whole enchilada! The spin spin me around and upside down version for us please!

By this time, I’m fairly sure that our stomachs will be telling us that it’s time to eat. Since the Electric Umbrella is nearby, we’ll backtrack and get us all some lunch:

Not gourmet food by a long shot but it’ll fill those tummies and we’ll be able to sit and relax for a while.

Since we’ll still be in Future World, why not go on over and see what Ellen’s up to? Or perhaps we’ll see how long the line is for Spaceship Earth? Let’s go to Spaceship Earth:

Depending on the weather and how Mama’s holding up, she may decide that now is a good time for her to go back to the resort for a while and meet back up with us for our dinner. Either way, our next destination will be either Ellen’s Universe of Energy or World Showcase. I’m thinking World Showcase.

**Continued in next post

 

[disneydancer86]

Holy "missed-a-bunch-of-updates" BATMAN! I was so behind!!!

I am beyond jealous of your 24-hour MK plans. We are only missing it by a week...I would have been all over that.

I can't believe your trip is only 5 days away. Soooo excited for you!!!!!

Sounds like your EPCOT day is going to be full o' fun. I will weigh in on the TT debate. We went through the FP line, and unfortunately you don't get as many options when you create your car. Honestly, though, it didn't really bother me. I didn't even make a car, because I wasn't sure if the DBF and I had to share a key card or what (you dont...everyone can make their own). We thought the ride was fun and we were huge fans of the old TT. I think they did a fine job of updating it and I have heard that the SB line car choices are much better than FP.

Can't wait to read more...I think I posted right in between updates..OOPS!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Look out! Continued

We have two days at Epcot scheduled so we can take our time touring World Showcase. We’ll begin our tour going clockwise and will start out in Mexico where my husband decided last year to take a little siesta:

A boat trip will need to be taken in order to find that silly Donald Duck:

We may pop in and see if the glass blower is there and, if Mama’s with us, then we’ll for sure go into the store just to the left of the entrance to Grand Fiesta. They sell some beautiful silver jewelry and Mama loves jewelry.

Since we seem to be in the mood for boat rides, we will get on yet another boat in Norway and try to avoid getting frightened by the trolls in Norway:

Next, we’ll take the slow boat to China. Wait? There’s no boat to or in China. At least not Epcot’s China. That doesn’t mean that we can’t visit though:

Are the acrobats still performing in China? Am I wrong in thinking that they are no longer there because their contract run out? I would love it if I am wrong. We were always amazed by them:

Our stroll around World Showcase will continue and the next country we will come upon is Germany:

Ahhh, Germany, home of the wonderful, scrumpdillious caramel treats:

Good gosh amighty! I could eat every single solitary thing in that display case right now.

We have dinner reservations at Via Napoli and Italy is the next stop on our World Showcase tour. If we timed our stroll right, we should be in Italy just about the time we need to check in. We really enjoyed our meal there last trip and are looking forward to eating there again. If Mama went back to the resort, one of us will go to the front of the park to meet her and then take a Friendship boat across the lagoon to Italy.

Let’s have dinner shall we? It’s a given taht Hunter will order the cheese pizza.

I had pepperoni pizza last time and it was so good that I’ll probably order it again:

John ordered some sort of pasta dish but said that he’ll probably order the pizza as well:

There’s not a single doubt in my mind what John and I will be ordering for desserts. Definitely the Zeppole di Caterina a/k/a little balls of yummy goodness:

Hunter’s not a big dessert eater but may order some gelato:

Given the fact that we will have spent hours and hours at Magic Kingdom on the 24th and hours and hours at Epcot, we may decide to skip Illuminations this night. If so, we’ll try to beat the crowds out of the park and make our way to the bus stop. It’ll be nice to hit the bed that night.

**Up Next: Hitting up two lodges and two resorts in just one day!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hitting Up Two Lodges & Two Resorts In Just One Day!

On the itinerary, May 26th started out as a lazy bum around the resort kinda day. However, Im not good at doing the whole bum around the resort thing. Last year, as a spur of the moment thing, we booked a breakfast ADR at Whispering Canyon Café for our last morning of the trip. The breakfast was a hit and John mentioned doing another sit-down breakfast again this trip. But, with Lacey & Jesses limited time, they really didnt want to waste it eating breakfast. Given that, we decided to book it before they arrived. I made the ADR for 9:35 a.m. so that we wouldnt have to get up super duper early but wed all still be in the mood for breakast.

Well take the bus over to the Magic Kingdom and then a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge which can take some time but, in the past, weve been lucky and it hasnt taken too terribly long. John and I both already know what we want and its this bad boy:

That right there, ladies and gents, is the all you can eat breakfast skillet! Something thats right up Johns alley.

Hunter really likes french toast minus the swirly syrupy stuff on top:

Im not sure what Mama will order but she looked at the menu and said that the omelet looked good:

After our meal, well wander around the store a bit before taking the boat back over to the Magic Kingdom. There are two resorts that I really want to visit on this trip. One is Art of Animation. There was a Disney special on television a while back and they were showing the grand opening of the resort and all of us thought that it looked really neat. The other is Coronado Springs. As I wrote in one of my earlier installments, we originally booked Coronado Springs but ended up going back and forth with the decision and ultimately decided on Caribbean Beach. Id like to scope out the resort for a possible future stay.

Im not sure which resort well visit first but Im thinking it will be Art of Animation. Why? Because, if we decide to take a cab back to the resort, the AoA is really close to the CBR and the fare wont eat us up. Last trip, we passed by the resort on the bus but only got a little glimpse of the buildings so we are looking forward to seeing it up close:

Once we are done at the AoA, well either go to Downtown Disney or back to the Caribbean Beach Resort for some R-N-R. Johns brother and his family will be at Disney for part of the time that we are there and my sis-in-law exchanged itineraries and they are going to meet us for dinner at Boma. This is another new restaurant for us and we figured if we are ever going to try that type of cuisine, itd be best if we ate at a buffet so we could try a little something of everything.

Our dinner reservation is for 7:15 p.m. Lacey and Jesse will be arriving that evening and I questioned whether or not to make the ADR for an earlier time so wed be back at the CBR when they arrive. But, Lacey said to go ahead and book it because they arent sure what time theyll get to Disney anyway.

Because of all of hte above, we will probably leave the resort a lot earlier than our ADR time so taht we can go the Coronado Springs and look around. Since we have a car at our disposal, we will, more than likely, drive there. Weve always said that we think that wed like CSR because it has a beach and if we were to start missing hte CBR beaches, wed still have a bit of the tropical feel at the CSR.

http://**************.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Cabanas-Beach-2-at-Disneys-Coronado-Springs-Resort.jpg

I am looking forward to walking around the resort and taking in the sights there. If we like what we see, it may have a very good chance of becoming the resort we stay in next trip.

Okay, so back to Boma. Well leave from the CSR and head over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to meet up with Johns brothers family. Their ADR is just 5 (or is it 10?) Minutes after ours and Disney Dining castmembers told us to all show up about 15 minutes ahead of the first ADR and tell them that we want to all sit together.

As I said, Boma is a new restaurant to us and we are anxious to try out the buffet:

Another thing that I am excited about is seeing the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It looks absolutely beautiful in pictures and Im sure that it will be even more beautiful in real life.

I cant remember what my sis-in-laws plans are but they mentioned something about coming over to the CBR and hanging out with us on the beach a while. By that time, Lacey and Jesse will be there and itd be a nice little family reunion. I need to call my sis-in-law and ask if thats something theyd like to do that evening. If so, they can ride back with us and then well take them back to All Star Sports after weve visited.

**Up next: Taking the plunge!

 

[mickeystoontown]

So much for getting update after update knocked out today. What was supposed to be a two day custody trial ended up settling after three hours of negotiating. Why couldn't they have just settled before we did all that prep work? Anyway, I need to get a few things off my desk. I hope to be back to write more today but I am not sure if it's going to happen.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Sounds like a good day at Epcot for sure!

I did Captain EO in December, and I say skip it, unless you have a bunch of extra time on your second day. It made no sense to me, looked very old and I walked out feeling like it was by far the worst attraction I had experienced at WDW.

Exploring resorts is a great option for that day, since you would have had a very long day at MK and Epcot has so much walking you'll be tired. Breakfast at Whispering sounds great, and looks delicious. I didn't get to explore AoA a lot, but it is gorgeous. CSR looks nice too. But I want to see (and stay at!) AKL more than any other resort on property so I'm jealous you get to go there. And it's great you will get to see your family members then too.

 

[Bethislucy]

Sounds like great plans for the start of your trip. I'm trying to work my nerve up to try Boma I'm just so picky that i'm not sure if I would like it.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great plans! 24 hours in MK, Fun in Epcot and some resort visits sound fabulous! I've never eaten at Whispering Canyon, but it sounds and looks good! My DH would love one of those skillets!

Boma is NOT that scary, trust me! My DH is a plain meat and potatoes kind of guy, and he loves the meat there, especially when they have ribs. My DD12 is super picky, and there's enough on the "kids" section to keep her happy. If all else fails, go to that area and grab some mac and cheese or chicken nuggets! Plus they have great desserts!