Solo and Unleashed!

[mom2rtk]

I can't believe you had only been on RnR once before. We LOVE that ride and always try to do it several times. Of course, FP+ might put a crimp in that when we get back again.

How fun to be surprised by having characters there! What a great atmosphere!

 

[jenseib]

That breakfast really sounded like a bargain and looked good, too. I can't believe that so many people turned up late for the conference and were running late after the breaks. Captain's Grille has not been on my radar up to now, but it just made the "to try list".

You are brave doing Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Rollercoaster back to back. How nice that Startours was so empty. From what I have heard, the villains party was a bit of a mess. I can't wait to read about your take on this. It was nice so that you got a surprise character in the restaurant.

Corinna

Breakfast was a total bargain! I will have to keep it in mind for the future!
I was really happy with Captains Grille too!
Yes, I think the party was a bit of a mess, but I had a good time as I wasn't there to meet rare characters, just enjoy myself and the atmosphere.

I can't believe you had only been on RnR once before. We LOVE that ride and always try to do it several times. Of course, FP+ might put a crimp in that when we get back again.

How fun to be surprised by having characters there! What a great atmosphere!

Well Claire won't ride it and many times I have been there with just her. the only time I did before is when Skip was with us and he rode it and then he took Claire and I rode it.
Claire might ride it in the future, but we'll have to see how that goes.

 

[mom2rtk]

Well Claire won't ride it and many times I have been there with just her. the only time I did before is when Skip was with us and he rode it and then he took Claire and I rode it.
Claire might ride it in the future, but we'll have to see how that goes.

Yeah, I remember those trips before Katie unleashed her inner thrill ride junkie. It pretty much happened overnight, and *might* have involved a bribe to get her on California Screamin in 2010. For some reason she turned the corner that day. I bet your turn is right around the corner with Claire.

 

[jenseib]

Our food came out then and I took so really crappy pictures of mine.







The little chips were really good, the beef slider was better than the chicken. Neither were what I would call fabulous, but they weren’t bad either. It was just different than normal food I would normally eat…and I did eat them all.

Cruella kept making the rounds.



And then look who appeared!



How exciting. I don’t think I have ever seen the Queen of Hearts before.



I took a picture of Jeanne with her and then I had Jeanne take one of me, but it didn’t take. She didn’t know how to work my camera and she just let the flash go off and didn’t hold it long enough for the picture to take…so I grabbed Holly and we went and stalked the Queen so I could get a picture too.

Of course I look like a total dork in this picture.



While sitting at the table, just relaxing and enjoying ourselves, I noticed the people in the booth next to use got some dessert and it looked cute and yummy…at least in the dark it did, so we quickly looked at the menu and found it. There was a Club Evil Dessert Trio which consisted of Hade’ Blue hair, a Raspberry Sphere filled with and Orange Truffel on Pop Rocks, Malificent Fury, Dark Cherry Gelato in a Vanilla Cornet, and Cruella’s Evil 7 Layer Chocolate Cake, White Chocolate Oreo Mousse, Raspberry Jam and Dark Chocolate Ganache.

Yep, we wanted that! Holly said she was too full, but when the waiter came by, she ordered one too. LOL.









I started on the Hades’ first and it was not bad, but it was weird. It had the texture of an eyeball, so that was a little strange and the pop rocks exploding in my mouth was really a weird feeling. It also had cotton candy on top. Without even realizing it, the Malificent was gelato and that started to melt fast. In fairness I think it was already melting when the waiter brought it out. So we quickly switched over to eating that next and it was pretty much liquid at that point. It was good, but had it actually been in the frozen form, I think it would’ve been better. The Cruella Mousse was really good too.



The service was very slow, but it was also really busy. All the tables were full and they had some stand up tables as well and those were full and still there were a few people just roaming around. At one point across the way Jeanne noticed a lot of people hovering around a table. We wondered if someone famous was over there, so I walked over to take a look…pretending like I was looking at the decorations. I saw no one I recognized and was about to walk away when a family asked if I needed a seat. LOL. Oops caught in the act. I told them no, I was just looking at the decorations and went back and sat down.

We also knew another co-worker was in Club Evil as well…Nikki. We had been messaging back and forth and she kept saying she was near Pain and Panic. I took a walk around, but I could not find her at all. Nor did I see Pain and Panic walking around anywhere. I didn’t think the place was that big, but maybe there was another room?

We kept saying that we were by the blue bar. Finally I went back far enough and found her. I had been looking behind a pillar, but never stuck my head into that room far enough. Sure enough she was there with her husband and there were statues of Pain and Panic back by her table. I grabbed her and took her back to our table and we chatted a few minutes and had Holly take our picture.



Nikki went back to her table and then we sat and chatted some more and we noticed the step sisters were roaming around. I only got a glimpse of Anastasia, and the picture is really bad.
Drizzella however, did come over.





A bit of a stalking picture.



Or two….



Cruella also came back over.



And another visit from Drizzella.



Cruella then overtook the podium and sang…I don’t think she was really supposed to do that, but she was feeling the spirit.



Our bill had come out and we paid. This was not a cheap meal/experience as I believe mine was close to $50 when I added a tip, but to me it was well worth it. I was not out in the extreme heat (though it still was pretty warm in here) and I got to see characters that I hadn’t planned on, and it was nice chatting with Jeanne and Holly and meeting up with Nikki as well. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We decided it was time to head out, though we wouldn’t have mind staying there all night. We went back to say good bye to Nikki and her husband and then I took a few pictures of the Pain and Panic statues too. As we got up a guy asked us if we were leaving and we said yes and he quickly grabbed our table.





Look at this cute little “Brown Derby”.

 

[jenseib]

Yeah, I remember those trips before Katie unleashed her inner thrill ride junkie. It pretty much happened overnight, and *might* have involved a bribe to get her on California Screamin in 2010. For some reason she turned the corner that day. I bet your turn is right around the corner with Claire.

Claire turned a bit of a corner in March, so I might be able to get her on this next time. I don't know if she'll like the take off or not though.

 

[wiscbugs]

That dinner looks like a ton of fun!

 

[dolphingirl47]

The food looked interesting and you were thoroughly spoiled with the characters coming to visit.

Corinna

 

[mom2rtk]

Claire turned a bit of a corner in March, so I might be able to get her on this next time. I don't know if she'll like the take off or not though.

Well, if nothing, she's slowing inching toward the point where you can make her sit in a gift shop while YOU ride the thrill rides!

That Brown Derby experience just looks awesome. I'm so jealous!

 

[ribollita]

Great photos of CBR. it wasn't really on my radar but the pool area looks amazing.

 

[Beth D]

Too bad that the conference ran late.

I'm glad you got some good rides in! RNR is a great ride, and the Aerosmith music is killer too! Love TOT, especially at WDW. I like it better than DL, since it's more random, and goes out further so you can see everything.

The Villains party looks like my kind of fun. i'm more a villains kind of girl, not so much a princess!

 

[jenseib]

That dinner looks like a ton of fun!

It really was.

The food looked interesting and you were thoroughly spoiled with the characters coming to visit.

Corinna

it was such a nice surprise!

Well, if nothing, she's slowing inching toward the point where you can make her sit in a gift shop while YOU ride the thrill rides!

That Brown Derby experience just looks awesome. I'm so jealous!

Oh no, she is still chicken about that kind of stuff. She won't even do single riders with me yet.
it was a lot of fun there.....and you could've been there....just saying

Great photos of CBR. it wasn't really on my radar but the pool area looks amazing.

The pool is really nice.

Too bad that the conference ran late.

I'm glad you got some good rides in! RNR is a great ride, and the Aerosmith music is killer too! Love TOT, especially at WDW. I like it better than DL, since it's more random, and goes out further so you can see everything.

The Villains party looks like my kind of fun. i'm more a villains kind of girl, not so much a princess!

I like both, but it is fun to see villains have a night of their own!

 

[jenseib]

After saying our final goodbyes to Nikki we headed out.



Jeanne said we had to stop in front of the cauldron with the Evil Queen and get a picture for our friend Deb. We have a running joke of being the “evil girls” so this was for her. First we had to brew up the smoke.



And then our evil poses.



Ok, we might have been doing a bit more laughing than looking evil…..

We all hit the restroom there and then had plans to meet up the next day………..
And said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.



I headed off by Toy Story and the wait said 20 minutes…which we all know is pretty much unheard of, so I got in line.















The wait was slightly longer, maybe 25 minutes, but it was still fast moving and I didn’t mind.

My score.



I had gotten into line at the right time as it was not a bit longer when I exited, still not bad, but closer to a 40 minute wait now.

I moseyed along and found the Wandering Oaken's Trading Post. I went inside and took a look around. It was so cold in there and it felt like paradise!



There were a lot of cute things in there but all overpriced and I didn’t feel like spending that much on items I am not sure would get enough use by Claire. I did linger in there for a bit to cool off though. This was truly the only place I went to the whole night were I was not sweating.

I then moved on.



I found a whole slew of characters, but the lines were so long and I was not about to wait for them, so I stood to the side and took their pictures that way. Many that I am going to post are from my phone and are bad, but I am posting them anyways.





This is a guy dressed up as Ursala…what a great costume. People were stopping him to get pictures with him.



Many characters were down here.

 

[dolphingirl47]

You got really lucky with such a short waiting time for Toy Story Mania. I would have been in heaven with all the frozen merchandise.

Corinna

 

[mickeystoontown]

Dinner looks good and fun! I've never been in the Brown Derby either. So, it's not that big inside? John would have been jealous that you met Cruella. We met her several years ago and she kissed him on the cheek. The man walked around with red lips on his cheek all day long.

You really lucked up on the Toy Story Mania short wait time. 20 minutes is unheard of!

Looks like there were a lot of character meet and greets. I probably would have skipped out on meeting a bunch of them too since I'm not a good "wait'er on'er".

 

[KatMark]

Dinner looked fun as did your meets with the villians (I heard this was a very pricey ticket though).

Nice job on only a 20-minute wait for Toy Story.

And more good pictures of the villians.

 

[scottny]

We carry our TOMTOM with us now when we go to Disney. I don't trust the phone. LOL.

The room is pretty.

Pretty pool pics.

Seems like a good way to spend the night. Too bad you couldn't swim.

MMM< the breakfast food looked good.

Dolphin is so pretty.

I would think it was illegal to lock a door from the outside because of a fire but I guess there were other exits.

Love Captains Grille.

I remember people posting about that storm during that day on FB.

Nice you saw Cruella.

The dessert was cool looking.

I don't think $50 was to bad for the experience. Looked like fun.

That wasn't very evil looking. LOL.

LOL. Love the drag Ursula.

I am caught up again. See you in 3 weeks.

 

[jenseib]

You got really lucky with such a short waiting time for Toy Story Mania. I would have been in heaven with all the frozen merchandise.

Corinna

I know, I was so happy to get in so fast!

Dinner looks good and fun! I've never been in the Brown Derby either. So, it's not that big inside? John would have been jealous that you met Cruella. We met her several years ago and she kissed him on the cheek. The man walked around with red lips on his cheek all day long.

Not nearly as big as it looks from the outside.
I met her once back in 2008 and I don't know if I have seen her out since then.

You really lucked up on the Toy Story Mania short wait time. 20 minutes is unheard of!

I know!

Looks like there were a lot of character meet and greets. I probably would have skipped out on meeting a bunch of them too since I'm not a good "wait'er on'er".

No, I really have no patience for long lines anymore.

Dinner looked fun as did your meets with the villians (I heard this was a very pricey ticket though).

Nice job on only a 20-minute wait for Toy Story.

And more good pictures of the villians.

The ticket for the party was pretty much like any other party ticket and Club Evil was free, but my food ran about the same as what a character meal would cost. I had heard this whole thing was kind of a test for future things and the maps said to be on the look out for more Villains events in 2015. I would think it would be nice for them to have it a couple times a week like they used to have the pirate and princess parties. I think the whole Club Evil things was a test for what they now have at the castle during the MNSSHP's. Only those are $99 a person.

 

[jenseib]

We carry our TOMTOM with us now when we go to Disney. I don't trust the phone. LOL.

I don't have any kind of gps excpet my phone, but I have used my sons in the past and it was just as bad....telling me to use roads that didn't exist.

The room is pretty.

Pretty pool pics.

Seems like a good way to spend the night. Too bad you couldn't swim.

It was a nice room. I am not much of a swimmer anyways, but I do like a hot tub here and there!

MMM< the breakfast food looked good.

Dolphin is so pretty.

I would think it was illegal to lock a door from the outside because of a fire but I guess there were other exits.

We could exit with no problems, we just couldn't re-enter without the key.
Love Captains Grille.

I remember people posting about that storm during that day on FB.

It was a doozie!

Nice you saw Cruella.

The dessert was cool looking.

I don't think $50 was to bad for the experience. Looked like fun.

I didn't either, close to what I would pay for a character meal.

That wasn't very evil looking. LOL.

LOL. Love the drag Ursula.

I am caught up again. See you in 3 weeks.

I know. we can talk trash, but we seem to do it with smiles on our faces!
I loved that guy too. Great costume!
You have fun in Europe! I will be heading out of town on the 27 and won't be back till the 4th of Oct. I hope to finish this one before I go, but the other one will still be a work in progress!

 

[jenseib]

Next to no one was going in the Muppets.



And I found a Stormtrooper who would pose for me. I was shocked to find him walking around with basically no one around him.



Others soon caught on.



And then I came across ANOTHER one!



The Sand dude had a long line but I quickly snapped a picture of him.



There was no chance of even getting close to Vader.



I then found a queued line for Stormtroopers and thought it was funny because it was so long and if they just walked down a ways they would find 2 or 3 just roaming and taking pictures.

I also saw another Star Wars character…who it is, I have no clue, but I wasn’t sure if she was a real character or someone dressed up. I later saw Jeanne post a picture of Holly with her, so I guess she was real.

I strolled back down by the Evil Queen who had a massive line and it was already cut off for the night…..by the way …MANY lines were cut off early this evening and I heard a lot of people complained about this.









I then strolled by where they were selling the merchandise. The line was cut off for that as well and I overheard that those still in line only had the option of buying party pins. Everything else was sold out. I just don’t get this. I know they limit how much you could buy in the first place, but why don’t they still stock enough? Disney does some really crazy things and this is one of them.
As I walked around some more I saw a lady stop a CM and really laid into him that she had been in line for one character for hours and then went to buy merchandise only to be told she couldn’t get in line. I am not sure what happened, but he took her off somewhere to help her. I am not sure if she was able to get anything, or they did something to compensate her.
Oh….and that’s another thing. I had heard afterwards that many people were mad about how the party was handled with both merchandise and characters and were asking for refunds. I am not really OK with that. Unless they had a really bad time, it’s just how these things are. Disney just never has enough merchandise and the character lines, especially rare ones, are always crazy long.

I circled around the front and saw the band playing a little bit.





I went to find a spot to sit as I was just so hot still and look who I ran into.



It was close to 11:30 now and I was super tired and mostly just super-hot. I think it was still a heat index of the mid 80’s at this point. I had wanted to stay for the fireworks but I think they were still over an hour away. I messaged Jeanne and told her I think I was going to call it a night as I was so tired and couldn’t handle the heat anymore. She had already left. LOL!
I felt kind of bad not doing a lot of party things, but I still had a good time and really enjoyed myself, but I just couldn’t go on anymore. I thought maybe I would be able to see the fireworks from CBR once I got back.
So with that thought I headed towards the front.







They were handing out goodie bags as we left…. I heard later that again they didn’t have enough for everyone and many people didn’t get them…… They had some autograph cards from some of the different villains and some Malificent pins and a few other things I think….I gave them all to Claire.

 

[natebenma]

I am caught up

Such pretty pictures of CBR in the morning! I love the one of the lighthouse where the sun looks like a beacon.

That does seem like a great deal on the kids' Mickey Waffle breakfast.

Love your tour of the Dolphin, I have never been inside. I can't believe how difficult it was to find a diet Coke!

about the environmental terrorist group. Did they not get the irony of a group with their mission handing out flyers that were immediately disposed of?

LOVE YOUR LUNCH CHOICE!!!

I have eaten breakfast, lunch and 3 dinners at Captain's Grille and have not been disappointed with the food.

May I add a link to your review to the dining page on the Yacht & Beach Club FAQ? I have a few reviews there for people, and yours is great!

And now for a couple of Captain's Grille "Fun Facts". Did you see the wall mural of the seascape where the sailboat moves from one picture to the next?

Also, at breakfast and lunch, you get a 10% discount on your bill if you pay using a Disney Visa.

I like your pictures of Stormalong Bay. Were they taken from inside or outside of the pool area?

on yummy snacks at the conference.

on the seminar running late!

**********************************

I'm glad you missed most of the storm! I was there from Sunday night to Tuesday night and the only rain I saw was on the Magical Express on the way to the resort.

But it was HOT!!!

********************************

What an awesome picture of the ghost family on ToT!!!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the party. Honestly, I have heard more negative comments than compliments. The things you described like the limited maps, long (and cut-off) character lines and limited merchandise all seem to support the complaints.

The Club Evil party sounded like fun, though. I loved the things available on the menu and the dessert was so imaginative!

I love your picture of Cruella and of the other characters.

The guy dressed as Ursula was fabulous!