So much to do (and eat) we need to go twice! A food-focused trip report. COMPLETE 7/28/22

[mickey916]

5/19 Day 6 Animal Kingdom
​

We decided to purchase Genie+ for our AK day and I was surprised to discover that despite my brother's family no longer having tickets or park passes, I still experienced the AP glitch which prevented me from purchasing Genie+ in my account. I ended up having to purchase it on my husband's account who wasn't connected with my brother's family. While in line for early entry at 7:00, I was able to use my own account to purchase a ILL$ for Pandora at 9:30 and booked the Safari for 8:45. We decided to rope drop the Navi River Journey as everyone else in the crowd headed to FOP. We got right on with no wait and then headed to Dino-land and rode Dinosaur with no wait. None of remembered it being so rough last time we rode it. While the dinosaurs are cool none of us cared for being jostled around so much.

We then went to Asia and rode Expedition Everest with no wait. Such a fun ride! We decided to get right back in line and rode a second time with only about a 10 minute wait. It was then time for our safari LL so we headed to Africa and had a great ride, seeing a lot of animals.

After already riding five rides, it was finally time for breakfast. We decided to go to Tamu Tamu refreshments. My DS-25 ordered the birthday blueberry muffin. It looked delicious and he said it was very good.

My DS-23, my DH, and I decided to share the colossal Mickey cinnamon roll and


a chocolate twist.


They were both fine but nothing special. We then walked Gorilla Falls trail and rode our ILL$ for Flight of Passage. I was so happy to share this ride with my two sons! They both thought it was as amazing as I did when I first rode it in April. (As a side note, in my rush to get a good timeslot I had accidentally booked FOP for all four of us but my DH can't ride due to his motion sickness. Earlier in the morning when we were walking from Asia to Africa I visited guest services at a blue umbrella and they very easily refunded the cost of his ILL$.)

We then checked in for our Up Close with the Rhinos tour. I had tried to book this for our April trip unsuccessfully so for our May trip I made sure to check at 5:30 am on my ADR day and was so happy to book this for the four of us. We all got to pat Kiama. We were so surprised at how rough her skin felt, almost like concrete. We also got to meet Kendi and her baby rhino Ranger who was whining and fussing because he wanted to nurse. It was funny to see such a large creature making a crying noise. It is very evident how much their zookeepers care about them. It was such a cool experience. Unfortunately since it was backstage we weren't allowed to take any photos.

We had placed a mobile order for lunch at Satuli Canteen so we headed there after our tour. My DS-25 ordered the beef and chicken combo with noodles and creamy garlic sauce.

My DH and DS-23 also ordered the beef and chicken with noodles but ordered their beef medium-well on the app. Their beef was definitely more cooked...

All three of them really enjoyed their meals. I ordered the shrimp with noodles. I thought this was excellent as well. I actually preferred it over the chicken noodle bowl I got in April. The shrimp were perfectly seasoned and cooked.

After lunch it was pretty hot so we used a LL to ride the Kali River Rapids. We didn't really get as wet as we hoped and were amazed at how short this ride is. We all decided it is nowhere near as good as Bluto's Bilgerat Barges at Universal which we love and kind of a waste of a ride. We also watched the Birds in Flight show, explored the Tree of Life, and saw It's Tough to Be a Bug (and my DS-25 still doesn't like being stung). We grabbed a LL for Expedition Everest so we could ride it a third time. To cool off, we went to the Warung Outpost to get the delicious Shangri-La Berry Freeze. This is such a delicious frozen strawberry drink. It tastes like it's made with fresh strawberries, not artificial flavoring. So good!

We also got to see Kevin several times. Love her!


Up next dinner, dessert, and finishing the night with the Starlight Safari.

 

[mickey916]

5/19 Day 6 continued...​

I posted about this on the boards a couple months ago, but for those who didn't read that post, here's a funny background story. A couple months before our trip, I was going over our list of ADRs with my sons. After going through the list, my DS-23 said "I'm disappointed we're not going to the Rainforest Café but at least we're going to Yak n Yeti." I asked him what he meant by that and he responded that at least we would see animatronics there. I had to break it to him that there were no Yaks or Yetis at Yak n Yeti...LOL...(My sons always love the Rainforest Café but they admit that the food isn't memorable at all, just the atmosphere).

So we checked into our "boring" Yak n Yeti ADR and decided to share four entrees. First, we got the sweet & sour chicken.


The chicken was crispy, the sauce sweet, and the vegetables crunchy. Next up, we got the Chicken Lo Mein.



This was also very good but not as good as 'Ohana noodles. Our third dish was the Korean Beef.



This dish was also quite tasty. Our fourth and final dish was ordered at my DS-25's suggestion, Chicken Tikka Masala. I was hesitant to get this, as I wasn't sure we'd like Indian-style food but my son assured us we would like it.



This was excellent! It turned out to be our favorite of all the dishes. It had a little heat and was so full of flavor! Overall this was another fantastic meal. We enjoyed all of the entrees, even though there were no Yaks or Yetis. While I paid the bill, my family went to walk the Maharaja jungle trek before it closed. I caught up with them and we decided to head out for the night. But, first we needed dessert and couldn't believe it was our first time this trip for an old standby...



No trip is complete without a Mickey Premium bar and they still taste better in the parks.

We then headed to Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to check in for our Starlight Safari. Earlier in the week I had wondered if I had been overzealous in my scheduling and considered cancelling this tour but I'm so glad I kept it! This tour was so cool. I couldn't believe how many animals we were able to see.

We had to wait awhile for the roadblock to move. As an interesting side note, this family that was with us on this tour was also on the rhino tour with us earlier in the day. Guess I wasn't the only overzealous tour scheduler.



The night vision monocular gave us such great views. The young keeper who was our tourguide, Paula, was so passionate and provided excellent information about all the animals.



My family loved this tour! If you have a chance to do this, I'd highly recommend it!

We then headed back for our last night at the Swan before ending our vacation with a bucket list stay at the Contemporary.

 

[mickey916]

5/20 Day 7 Magic Kingdom​

We checked out of the Swan early and headed over to the Contemporary in the hopes of making it in time for early entry. We spoke with the guard at the Contemporary lot explaining we were checking in that day and he let us through the gates to the parking lot. Somehow doing this apparently triggered an "early check-in" request so as soon as we parked I got a "sorry your room isn't ready" text. We didn't really care about checking in early as we were headed to the parks through dinner time. (More on this later).

We headed off by the walkway and arrived just in time for early entry. I had purchased Genie+ for the day and gotten a 9:45 LL for Peter Pan and purchased ILL$ for three of us on SDMT at 11:30. We decided to head to Tomorrowland and do Space, Buzz, and PeopleMover. We accomplished all that with minimal waits. We then rode Little Mermaid and it was time for breakfast. No question where we were headed...Gaston's Tavern. We shared two cinnamon rolls. Here's the top view..

and a side view:

These are so delicious! We used to go to a Bed & Breakfast in Jackson, NH and the owner made homemade cinnamon buns each morning. These remind me so much of those tasty rolls! Soft and sweet with the vanilla and maple glaze. (We did ask for extra glaze.)

We then used our LL for Peter Pan and selected Splash Mountain as our next one then Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion. I don't remember the rest of our order but it was a very stress-free and enjoyable day as we did a combination of LLs and standby when lines were listed under 20 minutes.

I had originally scheduled an ADR for lunch at Jungle Skipper Canteen (and one at dinner for Liberty Tree Tavern after we had that amazing meal in April). We decided the night before that two table service in one day was a bit much and we also had a stretch of noodle-dishes between 'Ohana, Satuli, and Yak n Yeti so we canceled Jungle Skipper and opted for lunch at Sleepy Hollow (with a side of springrolls). My DH and I split the Spicy Chicken and Waffle sandwich. My DS-25 got his own.

Served with house made chips.

The chicken was very good. It was nicely breaded, crisp, and a little spicy. The slaw was odd. It wasn't like coleslaw, more like bok choy. I'm wondering if it was a supply chain issue as it doesn't look like the photos I've seen elsewhere. The waffle was cold and soggy unfortunately. Part of the reason may be that it took us a long time to find a table. There were lots of people with outside food or with no food sitting at the tables near Sleepy Hollow. We ended up on a bridge near Liberty Square. I think a picnic area would be nice somewhere so that those with hot food could use the tables closest to the restaurant...but I digress...the chips were very good, crispy and well salted.

My DS-23 ordered the corn dog. He thought it was just okay. I thought it looked a little burnt and he said it did look that way but it didn't taste burnt.


We also purchased two sides of spring rolls to share: the cheeseburger and 50th Pastrami.

These were good but not worth $9.50. My DH and I preferred the cheeseburger ones. Our sons preferred the pastrami ones.

After lunch I received a text that our room was ready at 1:30. I was surprised as I had not requested an early check-in. I had however sent a request through TouringPlans for the 10th or 11th floor away from elevators. I looked up our room assignment to discover we were on the 8th floor near the elevator. My assumption is that since somehow I had triggered an early check in request that they just gave us the first available room. I called the front desk and explained that we didn't need early check-in, would prefer 10th or 11th floor away from elevators, and would gladly wait until a room became available. The CM was very nice and said as long as we hadn't gone into the other room yet she could move us to the 11th floor a couple rooms from the far end. That was perfect! This was a bucket list stay for us and I was so happy we were able get a room on an upper floor.

We continued riding rides until our dinner ADR...up next another dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, did it live up to April's dinner? We shall see...

 

[mickey916]

My goodness! I just have a couple days left to report on and just can't find the time to do it. I'm wondering if subconsciously I just can't bear to reach the end of my report...hope to at least update tonight on Liberty Tree Tavern...

 

[mickey916]

5/20 Day 7 continued...​

My original plan for this day was to have dinner at Jungle Skipper Canteen but then after we ate at Liberty Tree Tavern on our April trip, we just couldn't turn up the opportunity to bring the boys to LTT. So, I moved Jungle Skipper Canteen to lunch (which I subsequently canceled) and scored a dinner ADR to LTT. We really looked forward to sharing this delicious meal with our sons.

Up first the Declaration salad. The vegetables were crisp and fresh with a delicious house made dressing.

The dinner rolls were good but basic dinner rolls, just like last time.

The patriot's platter of roasted turkey, Pennsylvania Pot roast, and oven-roasted pork was as good as last time. The herb stuffing and cranberry chutney were also delicious. We all agreed the pot roast takes top honors on the plate.

The mashed potatoes were creamy and flavorful. The garlicky green beans were perfectly cooked and also full of flavor.
The macaroni and cheese was also very good but the sauce was not quite as creamy as the mac n cheese at Garden Grill.

The platter also came with pretty standard gravy.

We ended up ordering some more pot roast and unfortunately were only given a very tiny refill, so only one of us got more pot roast (my DS-25).

Finally, our dessert, Oooey Gooey Toffee Cake, arrived. Sadly, this was not NEARLY as good as when we went in April. It had way less topping...



For comparison purposes, here's a re-posting of our April dessert.


Overall, this was a very good meal but didn't quite live up to our April meal. We can't really pinpoint the difference (other than the toffee cake was obviously better in April) but I think a lot has to do with our server. Last time our server, David, was absolutely phenomenal. He made sure he checked with us often and brought plentiful refills of drinks and food. This time our server just wasn't as attentive. He was working very hard and maybe had too many tables to cover but the level of service just wasn't there. Still a delicious meal though...

After our meal we headed across to the Hall of Presidents to catch the show. I find it incredible to see all those animatronic Presidents. As we went to exit the theater the skies opened up with pouring rain, thunder, and lightning. It was so bad that people didn't want to leave the foyer and we were getting weather alerts on our phones. Cast members were telling people we all had to leave but finally realized this was a pretty bad storm and found a spot for us to take shelter.

The rain finally stopped enough for us to head out but then the skies opened up as we were passing It's Small World so we dashed in there and rode the ride with little to no wait. When we came out it was still pouring and the walkways were flooding. We stood for a long time under the overhang and eventually rain lightened a bit so we hopped on the monorail back to the Contemporary.

Here's a look at our Incredibles room. We loved the spaciousness of this room and thought the theming was cool and not over the top.


Here's the view from our 11th floor balcony.


Overall it was a great day and we were able to ride everything we wanted to ride by using Genie+ and finding short stand-by lines. We headed to bed to get up early the next morning for our Keys to the Kingdom tour.

 

[tigerlilly]

Thank you again for your wonderful reports. You have inspired me to try for the Rhino tour and the AKL night tour! We will be staying four of our nine nights at AKL Jambo in Sept. so crossing my fingers we can get a reservation.

Your planning just seems seamless (two words that just go together lol).

Can't wait to read your last day!

Thanks again!!!

 

[mickey916]

Thank you again for your wonderful reports. You have inspired me to try for the Rhino tour and the AKL night tour! We will be staying four of our nine nights at AKL Jambo in Sept. so crossing my fingers we can get a reservation.

Your planning just seems seamless (two words that just go together lol).

Can't wait to read your last day!

Thanks again!!!

You will love both tours! Just a tip, on your 60 day mark try booking the tours earlier than 6:00 am. I booked both at 5:30 am and it worked. (I actually first tried at midnight).

Considering I originally started planning in 2019 for an original 2020 trip, I had plenty of time to plan, LOL...Thank you so much for following along. I hope to finish the report this weekend.

 

[mickey916]

5/21 Last Park Day​

I was so happy when the tours returned in time for our trip. I had originally booked the Keys to the Kingdom for our May 2020 trip and was afraid the tours wouldn't return in time. I scheduled us for the 8:00 tour and the instructions said to check in at least fifteen minutes early. So, we got up very early and headed down to the Contemporary Grounds since that was the only place open before 7 am. I wanted to try the Shakin' Jamaican but we were informed that the cold brew machine was broken. There weren't a lot of options but we got regular coffee and some pastries.

My DS-25 got the spinach croissant. He thought it tasted fine but it was really hollow not filled with spinach and cheese like it appears.


My DS-23 ordered the Croissant Donut. He said it was fine but not as good as a real donut.




My DH and I, being the mature adults that we are, each got a chocolate chip muffin. His had a lot of chips on top but none inside. Mine actually had way more chips. These were your standard grocery store muffins, nothing special.

With our bellies satisfied, we headed off to walk over to the park (just love the convenience of being able to walk from the Contemporary). We arrived at security around 7:15. Early entry was 8:30 but since we were supposed to check in by 7:45 we figured security would let us through in time. At about 7:30 security let us through and we headed to the line at the turnstiles. By 7:45 no one was being allowed in. I spoke with a CM and said "we're supposed to be checking in now for our tour, is there a different line to get in?" The CM responded that "they know you're on the tour if you're late it's not a big deal." So, we waited....finally at 8:00 they let everyone through and we headed directly for check-in at the Town Square Theater...not sure why they told us to check in at least fifteen minutes early when there was actually no way to get there that early. Actually would have liked an extra half hour where we could have gotten a better breakfast at the Contempo Café.

At check-in we were asked for our lunch order. We all wanted the taco trio from Pecos Bill so we let them know and were told that we couldn't get the trio with three different meats while on the tour, we had to select one meat for all three tacos. We attempted to figure out how to each order and then switch around but actually messed it up, but not a huge deal.

On the walk over I realized that I was going to need to check us in for our Southwest boarding passes at exactly 11:50 am while on the tour. I figured we'd be in lunch then but just to play it safe I mentioned it to our tour guide and said "I know we can't use our phones but will it be okay if I just check in for my flight?" He assured me we'd still be outside at that point so it wouldn't be an issue.

So, we started on our tour. My ever observant DS-25 struck up a conversation with a young woman who appeared to be on the tour solo and asked her if she was a tour guide too, she laughed and said "no" (more on that later).The tour went fine but our tour guide appeared very nervous and often lost his train of thought or mis-spoke and said things like Walt when he meant to say Roy. We got stopped on our way into Adventureland as there was some sort of private event going and we weren't allowed in and stood there for a while awaiting our ride on Jungle Cruise.

After our ride on the Jungle Cruise our tour guide announced it was lunchtime...at 10:15? So we went to Peco's Bills. We had a nice private room and a toppings bar which was awesome. We found out that DS-25 wanted just beef tacos so our plan of sharing to get our taco trio fell through and DS-23, DH, and I had pork carnitas and chicken to share. We make good use of the toppings bar though, so here's our tacos (DS-23 said we used too much cheese, can that ever be true?):


These were fine, I would say about Taco Bell quality (and we really like Taco Bell). After lunch we continued the tour and got to ride the Haunted Mansion. I've seen others mention they got to go "backstage" at the Haunted Mansion...not sure what others have experienced but we simply were ushered into line with everyone in the Lightning Lane and rode the ride...there was really no backstage about it other than on the way out he pointed out the cemetery stone of Mr. Toad.

We were able to go backstage to the area where they have the floats but all the garage doors were closed so we didn't see much there either. Our tour continued and the tour guide told us we were a little ahead of schedule but we were now going into the Utilidoors and all phones must be away...it was 11:47...I had three minutes until I needed to check in for our flight..I looked at him and said "Um..but you said I'd be fine for checking in at 11:50" and he said "Sorry ma'm we're going in now so you won't be able to do it"...Seriously? There was no other solution? I couldn't wait three minutes outside and catch up? So, we headed in and I put my phone away...I did actually try to do it through my Applewatch and got as far as loading in my confirmation number (which I had memorized) but by the time it hit 11:50 it appears I had no internet signal...so no A or low B boarding group for us...I have to say, it was hard to concentrate on the tour while stressing about this...

We went through the Utilidoors which was cool to see and then exited out. As soon as we were back onstage I pulled out my phone, checked in and got in a high number B group...not too bad and since we're all adults not a big deal if we aren't together.

As the tour ended our tourguide asked if we had any questions. No one did. In fact, no one really did on the whole tour. There was something about the way he presented that didn't generate further questions...then, the "solo female traveler" that DS-25 spoke with at the start revealed the big secret...she was in fact a tour guide and our tour guide was actually on his first solo tour and she was evaluating him to see if he was ready to be a full time tour guide. She turned to the group and said "What do you guys think?" Some guy said "No"...I don't know if he was just joking or not but she laughed and said "Well I guess we won't ask you then." and awarded him his pin. I have to say I was very impressed with my DS-25's detective skills though...I asked him, "How did you figure that out?" He said "She was trying too hard to blend in"...haha!

So, that was our tour. Our two sons thought it was pretty good since they know absolutely nothing about the Magic Kingdom so they learned a lot. My DH and I actually were disappointed. Even though we knew a lot of the info I do think we would have enjoyed it if we had a seasoned tour guide. It was just not that good with a newbie. We understand that tour guides have to start somewhere and wish the gentleman the best but unfortunately for us it was a disappointment. I also think there may have been a better solution for my Southwest issue if the tour guide wasn't being evaluated...I'm a rule follower so I didn't argue but it definitely made that part of the tour more stressful than necessary.

More on the rest of our day coming up...

 

[tigerlilly]

You will love both tours! Just a tip, on your 60 day mark try booking the tours earlier than 6:00 am. I booked both at 5:30 am and it worked. (I actually first tried at midnight).

Hi again... I will do that for sure. We are of course in California so that will be 2:30 AM lol and we are doing a split stay because I am a glutton for punishment

I think I will try to do the tours on separate days. Although yours worked out well on same day..maybe if I am flexible with dates it will help with the one at the AKL?

I really have enjoyed your reports. You have inspired me to try and write one also

 

[mickey916]

Hi again... I will do that for sure. We are of course in California so that will be 2:30 AM lol and we are doing a split stay because I am a glutton for punishment

I think I will try to do the tours on separate days. Although yours worked out well on same day..maybe if I am flexible with dates it will help with the one at the AKL?

I really have enjoyed your reports. You have inspired me to try and write one also

Split stays are great (except when it comes to ADRs). Thanks again for reading. I look forward to your report...it is a great way to make the magic last a little longer...

 

[cccory]

I enjoyed seeing all the yummy things you had. Thank you for sharing.

 

[mickey916]

5/21 continued...Snacks and Dinner​

After our tour it was time for a snack, especially since we had such an early lunch. Fair warning, this oart of our review will likely be highly controversial...My DH and DS-25 decided they wanted to go to Sunshine Tree Terrace and get a Citrus Swirl. Both of them love anything that has a tart/sweet combo so they were looking forward to this treat.



Unfortunately neither of them liked it. They both felt the orange part was way too tart and the vanilla wasn't sweet enough. My DH said it tasted like licking the cover of the frozen concentrated orange juice can. My DS-25 dubbed it the worst thing he had all week....many apologies to the Citrus Swirl fans out there but this one was a total miss for our family.

My DS-23 and I took the safer route (and turns out the better one) and headed to Aloha Isle for Dole whip. My DS-23 insisted that he had to go old school and got just a pineapple dole whip.



This was his very first Dole Whip. He liked it but said it wasn't as good as an ice cream. I got a coconut dole whip since in April I thought the pineapple dominated the coconut too much in my twist.



I thought this was very tasty and coconut is definitely my favorite Dole Whip. But overall, I think we're all just regular ice cream fans....apologies to Dole Whip fans too.

After our treat, my DS-25 wanted to go on Splash Mountain one more time since it would probably be our last time to ride it before the refurb. We hadn't purchased Genie+ since we knew we'd be touring all morning so we had to brave the standby line. The posted wait time was 45 minutes but we actually made it on in about 30 minutes. It is definitely in need of some TLC as many of the elements, like the "jumping water", weren't functioning. This is my favorite part and I'm really hoping they keep the steamboat when they refurb it.



After our ride on Splash we had to head out for Church and dinner. After Church we arrived at Disney Springs around 5:15 and went straight to snag a virtual queue for Gideon's. We were told our time estimate was three hours which wasn't an issue since we had a 7:00 pm ADR at Chef Art Smith's. As we were exploring Disney Springs, the skies were starting to look threatening so we asked at the podium if we could maybe get seated early. We ended up getting seated around 6:30 at a great table in the back overlooking the water. We decided to share the new Spicy Cauliflower Wings as a starter. This was absolutely delicious! The "wings" were perfectly crunchy with a sweet/hot honey sauce. We wished we had gotten two orders!



We all ordered the fried chicken but in various compositions...My DH got the fried chicken and donuts with mashed potatoes. He loved the chicken and donuts. He liked the flavor of the mashed potatoes but for some reason, they were cold. This is his favorite restaurant in Disney.



My DS-23 and I both ordered the chicken and donuts as well but got the macaroni & cheese instead of the mashed. I loved all of it (with the sole exception of the dipping sauce for the donuts, which had a very strong molasses taste.) My DS-23 loved his meal too and even liked the dipping sauce. The chicken was juicy and crispy with a delicious coating. The macaroni & cheese was loaded with cheese. Being the good wife that I am, I gave half of my mac n cheese to my DH to make up for his cold mashed potatoes (and to be honest, I was too full to eat it all). The donuts were airy and sugary.



My DS-25 ordered Art's Famous Fried Chicken which is fried chicken, cheddar drop biscuits, and mashed potatoes. He subbed out mashed potatoes for macaroni & cheese. He awarded this his best meal of the week!



We truly loved this meal. My DH and DS-25 both awarded it the #1 spot of the week, my DS-23 and I loved it too but it was beat out only by the narrowest margin by 'Ohana on our list. We didn't have dessert as we needed to save room for Gideon's.

Up next...we got our call to the virtual line just as we finished Chef Art Smith's...perfect timing!

 

[mickey916]

5/21 Dessert!​

Just as we exited Chef Art Smith's we got our text that it was our time to join the line at Gideon's. It ended up being about a 2.5 hour wait from our original check-in. Once in line, it moved quite quickly. We decided to purchase 4 cookies for later (and ended up eating them in the airport the next day).

Here's what we got...First, the original chocolate chip cookie. This is very good. It was my DS-23's favorite.


Next up, the cookies & cream cookie. This was my DS-25's favorite. He's a big fan of anything that includes Oreos.


Then, my favorite, the May special, peanut butter chocolate swirl. I was so glad we were able to get this before the Jif recall caused the peanut butter shortage and forced Gideon's to discontinue them. This combination of chocolate and peanut butter is out of this world good!



Lastly, the Gideon's peanut butter cookie. Also, very good! My DH didn't pick a favorite as he thinks they are all good but feels they are a little underbaked.



The reason we saved all of cookies for the next day was because we also ordered a slice of the Gideon's Chocolate Everything cake. We actually prefer their cakes over their cookies. We were hoping for the chocolate peanut butter cake but they didn't have it. The Chocolate Everything cake didn't disappoint though. It was a rich, dense chocolate cake with a thick, creamy chocolate buttercream frosting topped with chocolate decorations and a couple oreo cookies. Chocolatey perfection! Sadly, we devoured it before I took a picture. My DS-25 took one though...he said it's for my "half-eaten food blog", but I think this would have to go in a "mostly eaten food blog".



After eating our cake we rushed to the car as the skies were opening up with torrential rain. We returned to the Contemporary only to discover that chaos had erupted. The monorail was shut down as were two out of the four elevators. There were families everywhere with children crying, parents stressing, and guests asking Cast Members how they were supposed to get back to their rooms (there are no internal staircases). We ended up taking the escalator up to the fourth floor in hopes of getting an elevator from there but there were no "up" elevators. Eventually one came down so we got on that one, rode it down to the first floor and then rode it up to the 11th floor. Our sons had hoped to return to the Magic Kingdom after our meal but the monorail was down and it was raining and thundering so much they opted just to stay in for the night. We hoped to be able to see the Electrical Water Pageant from our balcony but it must have been canceled due to the weather. We spent the rest of our evening getting packed up for our departure the next morning.

Next up...one more meal before we say good-bye...

 

[mickey916]

5/22 Departure Day
​

When I booked our flight originally we were on a non-stop flight at 6:30 pm which would have given us a pretty full day. Unfortunately about a month before our trip Southwest changed their flight schedule and our only non-stop choices were 7:30 am (too early) or 10:30 pm (way too late for our sons who had to get back to their apartments and work the next day). So, we were stuck with a connecting flight departing at 11:50. I wanted to squeeze in one last meal so I scheduled us for a 7:30 breakfast at Steakhouse 71, since we were already at the Contemporary.

I really couldn't decide what I wanted so I opted for the Steakhouse 71 Feast: Eggs Benedict, Scrambled Egg, Bacon, Sausage, Mickey-shaped Waffle, Bacon-Cheddar Grits, Breakfast Potatoes, Fresh Fruit.

The fresh fruit (watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe) was delicious. I just love Florida fruit.



As far as the rest of the platter, it was pretty good. I thought the Eggs Benedict was a little dry, the mickey waffle was your standard mickey waffle. The scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage were fine. The grits were good but not as good as those at Cindy's.



My DS-25 ordered Walt's Prime Rib Hash. He too thought his meal was good, but not something to make a special trip for.


My DS-23 and DH both ordered the Western Omelette. They both thought it was excellent. They were by far the happiest about their meal selection.


Overall our breakfast was good especially since it was right in our building. We were seated and served very promptly and our server was excellent. It was nice quick meal to fill us up before heading to the airport.

We returned to our room for our luggage and took a few pictures before we made our way down to the car.

View of Chef Mickey's outside our room (we never heard any noise from there up on the 11th floor).


Monorail view from outside our room (Room 4705)



Two more pictures from our balcony.



We truly loved our brief stay at the Contemporary. I wasn't sure if we would regret doing a split stay but it worked out great to stay at the Swan during our Epcot/Hollywood Studios day and then stay at the Contemporary for our Magic Kingdom days. Thank you to whoever it was on these boards that made that suggestion so very long ago...

We headed to the airport, returned our rental car (highly recommend using the Visitor Toll Pass, very convenient), checked our luggage, got through security fairly quickly, and ate a couple Gideon's cookies as we waited at our gate. Our flight was a little delayed but we made it to Reagan International with plenty of time to finish our Gideon's cookies and board our last leg home to TF Green in Providence.

Overall, an absolutely phenomenal trip! I honestly can't think of too much that I'd have done differently.

I plan on doing one last entry with some "bests/worsts"...

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks for the wonderful review. We're coming to Disney and your post has given me lots of places to look into for meals and more importantly for treats! Staying at Contemporary as well for the first time so thanks for the room pictures.
Looks like you had an amazing trip!

 

[mickey916]

Thanks for the wonderful review. We're coming to Disney and your post has given me lots of places to look into for meals and more importantly for treats! Staying at Contemporary as well for the first time so thanks for the room pictures.
Looks like you had an amazing trip!

Thank you so much! Have a fabulous trip and I hope you enjoy the Contemporary as much as we did!

 

[mickey916]

Trip Report Conclusion:​

I wanted to end with some “stats” and superlatives.

Stats: Overall, we accomplished the following:

• Vacationed in Orlando for 21 days
• Stayed in 5 different hotels
• Visited every resort except Fort Wilderness and Shades of Green
• Experienced all forms of transportation: boats, bus, monorail, skyliner, and rental car.
• Dined at 23 Table Service Meals, 5 Lounges, and 55 Quick Service/Kiosks
• Spent 12 days in WDW parks and 2 days in Universal parks
• Experienced 3 Tours
• Rode every attraction we wanted to ride

Here’s our awards in each category:

Most Favorite Hotel: Contemporary (with Swan a very close 2nd)
Least Favorite Hotel: Marriott Orlando World Center (not that it was bad but was just our least favorite due to its hugeness)
Most Impressive Resort we didn’t stay at: Wilderness Lodge (with the Riviera a close second)
Favorite Mode of Transportation: Walking to the parks (but we really liked the Skyliner & Monorail)
Favorite Table Service: Chef Art Smith’s, ‘Ohana, Garden Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern (the first time) – All Excellent!
Least Favorite Table Service: Beaches & Cream (both times), only exception No Way Jose sundae
Favorite Breakfast: Primo Piatto & Gaston’s
Favorite Treat: Beignets
Favorite Dessert at Quick Service: Gideon’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Favorite Dessert at Table Service: Oooey Gooey Toffee Cake
Favorite Drinks: Pineapple Coconut Slushy & Shangri-la Berry Freeze
Favorite Cookie: Jack-Jack’s Num Num cookie (sorry Gideon’s)
Favorite Sandwich: Earl of Sandwich Thanksgiving sandwich
Least Favorite Sandwich: Monte Cristo from the Plaza
Ranking the WDW Parks (Best to Worst)
DH & Me: EP, MK, AK, HS
DS-25: HS, AK, MK, EP
DS-23: EP, MK, HS, AK
Favorite Rides at WDW:
Me: Guardians of the Galaxy
DH: Living with the Land
DS-25: Expedition Everest
DS-23: Toy Story Mania
Honorable Mentions: Rise & Flight of Passage
Least Favorite Ride at WDW: (tied) Frozen & Test Track (we miss the old versions of both)
Favorite Ride at Universal: Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges: all of us
Honorable Mention: Hagrid’s Motor Bike & Velocicoaster
Least Favorite Ride at Universal: Forbidden Journey (most nausea producing ride we’ve ever ridden.)
Tour Ranking (best to worst): Starlight Safari, Up Close with Rhinos, Keys to the Kingdom

Thank you for following along on my first trip report! It’s been fun sharing all our experiences. We feel very fortunate to have had two great trips filled with lots of great dining, family time, and adventures. We had so much fun that DH agreed we need to go back and experience the holidays, so we’ll be returning for a brief trip in December. I hope to do a report of that trip, too.

Until then….May all your adventures be tasty and fun!

 

[BennyBoyWrench]

Thank you!

Oh I had forgotten about the antler arch but I remember it now that you mentioned it. I definitely remember the geysers. My brother who was 4 at the time (and was one of those kids who ran off) had his hat blow off and it went into the geyser and melted. I remember my mom being so afraid he was going to run after it into the geyser. Luckily she grabbed his hand in time.

Glad you are enjoying the reviews. I have two more days to finish the report before we go!

We just got back from a few night's stay at the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone - the only disappointment was nobody said "Welcome Home" when we arrived!

 

[Danicat77]

My DH and I are going on a vacation…WITHOUT KIDS!!! Going in December as it’s the only time we go to Disney (from S. Dakota, so it’s nice to go when it’s cold here and Christmassy there. I’ve already been planning our food, and now I’m probably going to change some of my picks based on this. Thanks so much for sharing!! This was so awesome reading through I’m so excited now!

 

[mickey916]

My DH and I are going on a vacation…WITHOUT KIDS!!! Going in December as it’s the only time we go to Disney (from S. Dakota, so it’s nice to go when it’s cold here and Christmassy there. I’ve already been planning our food, and now I’m probably going to change some of my picks based on this. Thanks so much for sharing!! This was so awesome reading through I’m so excited now!

Have a fabulous time! We’re heading back in December as well, just the two of us. Glad to hear my report gave you some suggestions!