Solo Planning Trip for my 40th Birthday - Nov. 2014 (updated 8/15/2015)

[dreamseeker9]

Loving your report! Last time I was at MK I decided to try Splash Mountain--i normally HATE water rides because walking around wet does not sound appealing to me at all--but I decided to try it and I LOVED it!! I think i might have to start trying the water rides!

Thank you!

I love Splash SO MUCH. My brother is the same as you, he hates walking around wet. When we went to DLR for the first time, he wouldn't ride Splash Mountain with me. But he rode POTC with me. I didn't know that it wasn't quite like WDW, and we were in the front row. We ended up getting quite wet, and he was not happy! But we still had a great time.

You should try the Kali River Rapids at AK! It's hit and miss who in the raft really gets wet. It's good on a hot day!

 

[SarahDisney]

You got a lot done at Epcot! And I love those ears ... they look great on you!

 

[dreamseeker9]

You got a lot done at Epcot! And I love those ears ... they look great on you!

Thanks! I really enjoy EPCOT. And I love my new ears!

 

[hokieinpa]

Ahh, love the LM shots - I'm almost 100% that I will be staying there on my solo trip!

Soarin' is my favorite ride at Epcot - so great that you got on the first run!

Living with the Land is another favorite - pretty much the entire Land pavilion! I'd like to see Circle of Life - maybe next time while we are all doing Rider Switch on Soarin'!

It sounds like you had a great time in France!

I'm sorry you had a disappointing lunch at Captain's Grill - but it seems like you had a great time exploring Yacht Club! I would love to stay at YC/BC one time - Stormalong Bay looks amazing!

Cute Minnie ears - I got the same ones last trip!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Ahh, love the LM shots - I'm almost 100% that I will be staying there on my solo trip!

Soarin' is my favorite ride at Epcot - so great that you got on the first run!

Living with the Land is another favorite - pretty much the entire Land pavilion! I'd like to see Circle of Life - maybe next time while we are all doing Rider Switch on Soarin'!

It sounds like you had a great time in France!

I'm sorry you had a disappointing lunch at Captain's Grill - but it seems like you had a great time exploring Yacht Club! I would love to stay at YC/BC one time - Stormalong Bay looks amazing!

Cute Minnie ears - I got the same ones last trip!

I have some more LM shots coming up, too.

Soarin' is a great ride, I'm glad I appreciate it more now. Living with the Land always fascinates me, I always learn something new! I think the Circle of Life movie is worth seeing at least once.

I love the YC and BC! I'm so excited to stay there in September. I'm going to swim all of Stormalong Bay!

Great taste in ears!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Day 2 - Soaked Down to My Socks

Ah, yes. The rain had arrived. Stormalong Bay emptied out quickly.

As it started to rain harder, I walked out to the YC porch and debated making a run for the boat coming in. I decided to go for it, but I forgot my new ears - the poncho didn't fit over them very well! I ended up running for the boat when I heard last call and I was just starting down the long dock, but I made it! Time for a new park and one of my top two favorite attractions!

But before I got in that line, I decided to first get in the single rider line at RnRC. It started really pouring as I walked into the RnRC outdoor area. The single rider wait was 20-25 minutes, but I didn't care - I was inside and out of the rain! RnRC is a great ride, it always gets my heart pumping, and this was no exception!

Next, another first for me - the Beauty & the Beast show! I got in line at 4:03 PM for a 4:15 PM show, it was barely raining then. Within 5 minutes, it started raining harder, and they let us into the theater. Overall, I enjoyed the show, but (fashion spoiler alert) who selected those horrendous bright pink dresses in the final number?!

I got in line for Tower of Terror next. How I love this attraction! Everything about it is brilliant, from the moment you walk up to the mansion and hear the music and see the landscaping, down to the final moment. I was in the first row. It seemed really good this time, with a lot of drops. Just how I like it! And of course now I can't find my ride photo, but it was a good one. I liked the video they now have on the PhotoPass site, too!

Another restroom tip - the restrooms outside of ToT and Beauty & the Beast are good, but don't go there right after the show lets out - what a line!

I unfortunately didn't take many photos while at DHS, but that was due to the rain, and the fact that my purse was under my poncho, so it was kind of a pain to get to my phone and my camera.

Next, I did yet another first - Magic of Animation! This was fairly crowded, I'm guessing because it's all indoors and it was still raining hard outside. At first, I just walked around and took it all in. The character lines were all pretty long, so I just observed. I saw Mickey, Baymax, and the Incredibles characters. There was one animator working behind the glass. I decided to see the movie/show with Mushu and a CM, it was cute. If it hadn't been raining, I probably would have bypassed all this, so that was one positive thing about the rain!

I talked with a nice CM while we waited to get into the Mushu movie. She told me she liked Big Hero 6 more than Frozen. I told her I did as well, and we laughed at that. She told me that Pocahontas and The Lion King were made at the same time, and Disney promoted Pocahontas and thought it would be a huge blockbuster, and that The Lion King was more of an experiment. Of course, we all know how that turned out! My experience with that CM made up for my experience with another CM. I asked this other CM if the Animation buildings were modeled after the Disney Studios in Burbank. She hemmed and hawed, and I told her that I've been to the Burbank studios, and the architecture and signage were the same. She said she didn't know, and she seemed bored. It surprised me since she works at that attraction, not to know the basics and background of that area.

I had been debating if I wanted to stay for Fantasmic, which I have never seen, but then the announcements started that due to the weather, it might be canceled that night. I walked toward the back of the park and stopped to take one last photo of this before it was torn down.

I'm not sad that it's gone now, but I liked it just fine. I don't have strong feelings about it either way.

I walked back to the Osborn Lights and arrived right at 6:00 PM, just as they flipped the switch - what timing!

The first song the lights danced to was "Carol of the Bells", one of my favorites. I recorded a video of it, but some umbrellas were in the way. It was still raining hard!

So pretty!

Here's my wet selfie:

Still happy, because being at WDW in the rain is still better than being just about anywhere else!

I walked further and arrived at my beloved Muppets' park home, the MuppetVision 3D!

I took the time in the pre-stage area to walk around and take it all in. I got a kick out of the labels on the crates, among other things!

I really enjoyed the show, of course. Even with all the rain, though, the theatre wasn't even a third full. People need to show more love to the Muppets! After the show, I wandered around the Stage One Company store. I had read a tidbit on the DISBoards that part of the store is modeled after the Happiness Hotel - I can't believe I never noticed that before, but it certainly is true!

I walked back to the Osborn Lights, but it was still raining hard, and I was getting cold. It was time for my TSMM FP+, but when I arrived at TSMM, the ride was closed due to technical difficulties. Later, I realized that I had received an email about the closure with an offer to use a FP at any other attraction until DHS closed, but I had already left the park at that point. Oh, well!

Next up... A trip to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where I shop, find a new favorite wine, and meet up with a friend!

 

[guestswobags]

I love the rain selfie!! And who forgot to stock poncho hoods that accommodate mouse ears?

Thank you for the trivia about the Lion King and Pocahontas! I'd never heard that. Crazy. Have you seen the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty? It's wonderful. It's about the revival of Disney animation starting in the late 1980s.

Looking forward to more from your trip, and thoroughly grateful for your insight into the bathrooms! Now I'm second-guessing all my bathroom preferences: is the Tangled bathroom really vastly superior to the Tomorrowland bathrooms, or do I just feel that way because the surfaces are darker? Eek!

 

[dreamseeker9]

I love the rain selfie!! And who forgot to stock poncho hoods that accommodate mouse ears?

Thank you for the trivia about the Lion King and Pocahontas! I'd never heard that. Crazy. Have you seen the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty? It's wonderful. It's about the revival of Disney animation starting in the late 1980s.

Looking forward to more from your trip, and thoroughly grateful for your insight into the bathrooms! Now I'm second-guessing all my bathroom preferences: is the Tangled bathroom really vastly superior to the Tomorrowland bathrooms, or do I just feel that way because the surfaces are darker? Eek!

I haven't seen that documentary, I will definitely have to see it - thanks!

LOL on the bathrooms. I had a heck of a time finding a water fountain in Tomorrowland, there isn't one outside the large restrooms near Space Mountain. I finally gave up, bought a bottle of water in the gift shop at the Space Mountain exit, only to find minutes later a water fountain as i walked toward Fantasyland - go figure! I do really like the Tangled bathrooms. I stopped there a bit later in the trip and took advantage of the charging stations that not many people seem to know about, except for a few CMs who were sitting near me.

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds like you had a great time at HS, despite the rain.
What an interesting tidbit about Pocohontas/Lion King - I never know that and it's really interesting. Sad that the CM didn't know anything about the similarities to the Studios building in Burbank (which actually makes a lot of sense), but how cool that you recognized the similarities!
I love all of the Osborne lights pictures - we just missed it (it started the day we left), so I'm really enjoying being able to see the pictures.

 

[hokieinpa]

It seems like you had a fun afternoon at HS even with the rain! I never thought about ears interfering with poncho hoods - something to keep in mind for sure!

You had a quite a productive afternoon! It seems like HS has plenty of indoor attractions and works well for rainy days. It seems like you had a great conversation with the CM at Animation Hall!

I love the picture of the Osborne Lights! Were they dancing? I've heard sometimes they don't dance in the rain. Cute selfie too!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Sounds like you had a great time at HS, despite the rain.
What an interesting tidbit about Pocohontas/Lion King - I never know that and it's really interesting. Sad that the CM didn't know anything about the similarities to the Studios building in Burbank (which actually makes a lot of sense), but how cool that you recognized the similarities!
I love all of the Osborne lights pictures - we just missed it (it started the day we left), so I'm really enjoying being able to see the pictures.

I loved that tidbit from the CM about the movies! She was terrific all around. Maybe the other CM will now be more interested in the architectural similarities, but unfortunately that wasn't the impression I got from her. But maybe she was just having an off day. I'm glad you enjoy the Osborn lights photos, I love them! This was my second time seeing them.

I love the picture of the Osborne Lights! Were they dancing? I've heard sometimes they don't dance in the rain. Cute selfie too!

Yes, they were dancing! I was fortunate to arrive just as they flipped the switch, and then they danced to "Carol of the Bells". It was beautiful!

I'm glad everyone likes my selfie! It was a fun one to take, but tricky since it was really raining hard. Luckily, my iPhone held up! I think I did water damage to my camera, though - the battery hasn't been the same since that trip!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Day 2 - The Magic That Is Chakalaka

As I made my way out of DHS, I realized that I felt rather like a drowned rat. I had stepped in some puddles, and my socks and shoes were really wet. My feet felt awful - you know that feeling that makes your skin crawl when you can just feel your wet feet trapped in your socks and shoes, shriveling up? Yeah, that feeling. I wasn't supposed to meet my friend until closer to 9:00 PM at the AKL, and it was only 7:00 PM. But I decided to go ahead to the AKL instead of going back to my resort first. So I waited in a long line of wet and tired people for the AKL. It was standing room only on the bus, but that was fine with me - I just wanted to be somewhere dry! I got off at the second stop - Jambo House! I was excited to check it out because I'd only been to Kidani Village when I dined once at Sanaa. It was dark outside, so I couldn't see any animals, but I walked around some. The lobby area seemed very busy - I guess with the rain, most people decided to return to the resort.

I went into the gift shop, searching for something to relieve my feet. I saw some Mickey flip flops that I liked, but they didn't have my size. I settled on a package of 3 pair of Mickey socks, I think they're really cute!

I'm looking forward to wearing them on more trips!

The CM who rang me up in the gift shop was great, she gave me 2 shopping bags so I could put my poncho and wet socks in one bag, and my new ears and my two smaller bags in the other bag. I went to the restroom and changed into the dry socks. It felt better, even though my shoes were still wet. Another restroom review... the restroom in the Jambo House lobby was small, and the layout was strange. I guess as a civil engineer, I pay attention to these things. The good part was that the stalls were larger, so I had more room to change my socks. Later in the evening, I also used the restroom on the lower floor, just outside of Boma - those were nice.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos in the Jambo House. I guess I was too hungry and thirsty! I went to the Victoria Falls lounge. I really like this lounge. It was fairly crowded, some with people waiting to be seated at Boma, which is down the stairs, so the lounge overlooks Boma. It can be somewhat noisy, but not too much so. The Jambo House lobby overall is rather open, so it can be noisy when it's busy.

I found a spot at the bar - it was a great spot because it had one empty stool on one side of me, and people came and went from that spot. The other side of me was open, so this was where people would come up and order drinks. I had some fun small talk with people, and I liked the bartender. It made for great people watching. I was rather hungry, and I wanted a drink that would warm me up. For my dinner, I selected the Tandoori spiced chicken wings.

They were messy but very good and very filling! And for my drink selection, allow me to introduce you to the Spice Route Chakalaka Shiraz Blend from South Africa...

It's at the bottom of the menu. This, my friends, is now one of my all-time favorite red wines! It was absolutely delectable. Once I got home, I thought I wouldn't be able to find it - imagine my pure delight when I found it at my local wine store! I've actually only had one bottle since November, and I gave a bottle to friends as a holiday party host gift. That reminds me... put on my To Do list to stop at the wine store tonight...

I made the mistake of switching next to a Cab Sav - it wasn't nearly as good. But I figured I might as well try different kinds of wine, since how often do I get to taste South African wines? So for my third drink (yes, third - I was there for 4 hours, LOL!), I switched back to the Chakalaka! So good!!!

You may wonder what I was doing there for 4 hours. My friend who was staying there was having some drama - one of her two young sons wasn't feeling well, so they had to find a drugstore to get him some medicine for an ear infection. It was my friend and her family's first time to WDW, and I think they were feeling a little overwhelmed by it all. They hadn't planned for FastPasses, ADRs, none of that. She kept texting me and apologizing for keeping me waiting, but I was enjoying myself (and the Chakalaka!) and told her to take care of her son and not to rush.

Like I said before, the bartenders were great. One bartender and I talked quite a bit when he wasn't busy, but he did say the rain made the bar busier than usual. He also told me that WDW overall sales have increased by 24% from the MagicBands - it's so easy for people to just put their food, drinks, and souvenirs on those MagicBands and not be as aware of how the prices add up. It's so true! This bartender, though, doesn't like having to use the MBs to ring people up. That seems to be the consensus of CMs who were servers. At Via Napoli, my server said the same thing. And when I dined at Beaches and Cream last April, my server there had trouble scanning my MB and several other guests' MBs (their scanners weren't working propoerly) and said the MBs are a major pain for the servers.

My friend finally showed up, I think it was after 10:00 PM at that point. We moved from the bar to comfortable chairs and a small table. The bar was far less crowded at this point. We had a great time catching up for almost 2 hours, then she needed to go up and check on her kids and her husband. It was great to see her, and it also felt nice to see someone familiar at WDW during my solo trip.

Since it was after 11:00 PM and I was tired (and let's be honest, a little drunk), I got a cab back to AOA. It was $14 with tip, money well spent for saving the time it would've taken me to get a bus to DD and then a bus from there to AOA.

AOA was empty as I walked back to my room. But then it was 12:30 AM! I did take some nice night shots during my walk.

I found this waiting for me in my room...

Very nice job by my Mousekeeper!

I was happy that my feet didn't hurt like they did after my first day, and I had logged over 20,000 steps on my FitBit!

I fell fast asleep that night!

Next Up... Day 3! A first for brunch, touring the MK resorts, and a really magical (and cold!) day in the MK!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love the Mickey socks!

Chakalaka is an interesting name for a wine ... I'm glad you enjoyed & were able to find some at your local wine store!
Sorry to hear your friend was delayed by some issues, but it gave you more time to chat with the bartenders (and hopefully her trip got better!). The thing about people spending more with MagicBands definitely makes sense to me - people will spend more if they don't have to worry about whether they have the money in their wallet to cover it. I also totally understand how they're a problem for CMs - I've had a lot more trouble scanning my band to pay than I have paying via credit card or cash.

Sounds like a nice, relaxing end to the day. And the towel animal is adorable!!

 

[hokieinpa]

Very cute Mickey socks!

That wine does sound yummy - we're renting DVC points at AKL next trip so I think I'll go ahead and add that to my must do list!

I'm glad you got some time with your friend. It must have been nice to have such a relaxing evening after a rainy day!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Chakalaka is an interesting name for a wine ... I'm glad you enjoyed & were able to find some at your local wine store!
Sorry to hear your friend was delayed by some issues, but it gave you more time to chat with the bartenders (and hopefully her trip got better!). The thing about people spending more with MagicBands definitely makes sense to me - people will spend more if they don't have to worry about whether they have the money in their wallet to cover it. I also totally understand how they're a problem for CMs - I've had a lot more trouble scanning my band to pay than I have paying via credit card or cash.

Thanks, Sarah! I like saying it - Chakalaka. It's a great wine! My friend's trip did improve. She was ready to let down when she met up with me, but her husband had his hands full with their two DSs, so she didn't stay with me as long as she would've liked. But a short visit was better than no visit!

I've had problems with the MagicBands not scanning, too. It must be frustrating for the CMs.

Very cute Mickey socks!

That wine does sound yummy - we're renting DVC points at AKL next trip so I think I'll go ahead and add that to my must do list!

I'm glad you got some time with your friend. It must have been nice to have such a relaxing evening after a rainy day!

Yes, I highly recommend that wine, and the chicken wings were really tasty! Messy, but tasty.

It was a nice, relaxing evening. Even though the lounge was really busy at first, I love the vibe at the AKL and really enjoyed just sitting there, people watching, sipping my wine, and taking it all in.

 

[dreamseeker9]

Day 3 - A Lovely Morning of MK Resort Hopping

November 18, 2014 - Day 3 of 4. Since I'd gone to bed so late the night before, I slept in a little... until almost 7:00 AM, I guess that's sleeping in for me when I'm at WDW. I got a little over 6 hours of sleep, it was enough. I decided not to rush this morning, though - I stayed in bed for a bit, playing on MDE with breakfast reservations for that morning, while I watched a little TV. I decided on The Wave and made a reservation for 9:10 AM. Today was going to be all about the Magic Kingdom and its resorts! I was pumped. I really wished my room had a coffeemaker this morning, it was COLD! The shower head felt great - AOA has those awesome rainfall shower heads, love them!

I was wearing the warmest clothes I'd brought... would it be enough? The temperature had dropped into the 40s.

It's kinda hard to see, but check out my cute Muppet Show bag - my friend bought that for me as a gift several years ago, and I love it! I also love the cute LM mirror in my room.

I got in line for the MK bus at 8:29 AM. It was by far the longest bus line that I encountered the entire trip.

At least it wasn't raining anymore, that would have been a lot worse! One bus had just pulled away, but two more buses came at 8:35 AM, and then a stretch bus came at 8:40 AM, so I made it onto that one. Yay! Off to the MK!

We arrived at the MK at 9:05 AM, not too bad, considering it took a few minutes to load the bus at AOA. It was a 10-minute walk from the MK along the path to the Contemporary. I really enjoyed the walk. I may have to stay at the Contemporary one day and utilize that walk to/from the MK, it's so convenient!

It was fun to have the monorail go overhead. I had to laugh as I watched people walking toward MK with shorts and t-shirts on, already shivering... clearly, they hadn't checked the forecast and only brought clothes for warm weather. They were in a for a long and cold day!

I was seated at The Wave immediately. It was fairly full. I forgot to take photos inside The Wave, except I did remember to take some food pics - yay me! So I'll do a little review here.

The Wave serves a buffet for breakfast. You can also order off the menu, but I opted for the buffet - I'd read great reviews. You get two free drinks with the buffet, but I only opted for coffee and ice water. Here's my first plate of food:

The round egg on the middle right is the frittata of the day, bacon tomato cheddar. All things I love, but I didn't love this frittata - it was kind of dry and not very warm. I hate cold eggs. Part of being on a buffet, I guess - it can be hard to keep everything warm enough. The bacon was disappointingly greasy, I think that was from it sitting in the buffet pan in grease. The butter croissant (upper right) was delicious. The item on the upper left is an apple cobbler - I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but it was surprisingly good. And last but certainly not least, the pecan maple Danish... this, my friends, is the best reason to go to breakfast at The Wave. Out of everything, the waitress recommended this danish to me, and she knew what she was talking about! It was the best thing I ate by far here.

But I wanted to give some more a try, so on to my second plate of food:

I was getting full by this time, even though I'd only eaten about half of the first plate. But I can never pass up biscuits and sausage gravy, it's one of my favorites when done right. This sausage gravy was good, but not as good as I wanted it to be. Some sausage gravies have a distinct aftertaste that doesn't agree with me, and this unfortunately was one of them. If I were a chef, I'd probably be able to pinpoint the ingredient that causes that aftertaste, but I'm not. The biscuit by itself was good. I liked that the buffet had whipped butter, a flavored butter, and cream cheese to choose from. As you can see on my plate, the jams and jellies are provided in individual containers - that seems wasteful to me, and I think they could prepare and serve homemade jams at those prices. Just my opinion. The scrambled eggs were much better than the frittata, cooked well and warm. I was going to get some fresh fruit and another of those amazing pecan maple danishes, but I ran out of room. Instead, I decided to relax and let it all digest!

Another restroom review - the ladies' room on the first floor of the Contemporary outside The Wave was great!

After paying my bill with my MagicBand, I ventured up to the mural area.

So pretty.

There was a new display up that was quite popular, lots of guests wanted their photos next to it.

Yes, it's a Frozen gingerbread display! Shocking, I know. It was very cute. However, I was disappointed that there weren't any other holiday decorations out at the Contemporary. I guess I was just too early. There was, however, lots of holiday merchandise in the shops on this level of the Contemporary.

It was time to catch the monorail!

Next stop... the Grand Floridian!

(Continued in next post...)

 

[dreamseeker9]

Continued from previous post...

I love the Grand Floridian, it's absolutely gorgeous.

The best parts about the GF on this morning were that it smelled like gingerbread, and it was warm! The monorail actually had cold air blowing inside, so I was needing to warm up.

The reason the GF smelled like gingerbread probably had something to do with this masterpiece:

So beautiful! But before I went downstairs to get a closer look, I explored upstairs a bit more. I stopped to sit and check some emails on my phone. And then the cutest moment of my entire trip happened... there was a father sitting a few seats down from me. He was holding out his cell phone, and he looked exhausted. His daughter, maybe 2 years old, was dancing around, sucking on her pacifier, singing and acting out the Spanish version of "Let It Go" that her father was playing on his cell phone. Absolutely freakin' adorable. I love those unexpected Disney moments.

I stopped in Basin White and bought some bath bombs for my mom's stocking. I love that store! Then I made my way downstairs. I was a few days early for the grand opening.

I also checked out the menu for Citricos, as part of my 40th birthday planning. It looked fantastic but also very pricey and somewhat limited in its selections.

It was time to move on. I took the monorail back to the MK, then hopped on a boat to a new resort for me - the Wilderness Lodge!

It really looks like we are in the wilderness!

This is my friend's favorite resort, and I can see why. I'm more of a beachcomber than a woodsy gal, but this resort is stunning and also very cozy!

On my walk up from the boat to the building, I met a friendly CM named Ron, who told me his first job is to talk to guests, and his second job is pest control. He talked to me for at least 5 minutes, very good-natured, but I was getting quite cold out there! I asked him for a restaurant recommendation at the WL, and he told me he's never eaten at a restaurant there! Ron always brings his lunch from home, and he said the CMs eat "down there". I guess they have their own kitchen and dining area below the main level. I thought that was quite interesting.

I bid Ron farewell and made my way into the main building.

It smelled so good in here! Woodsy, but not overpowering.

More restroom reviews, I know you were waiting for them. There are restrooms by the Territory Lounge and Artist Point - they are nice and clean but small, only 3 stalls. Since the lounge and restaurant weren't open, I was the only one in there, but I wonder if they get busy in the evenings. I peeked into Artist Point, it was very picturesque.

I went shopping in the very nice Mercantile shop.

I found some cute knit fingerless gloves, but they cost $27. I decided to wait and try to find some cheaper gloves. I knew that if I was going to make it outside at the MK for the afternoon and evening, I definitely needed some gloves and maybe other warmer attire! But I wasn't yet ready to brave the cold again, so I went exploring. I took the elevator up to the 6th floor and then walked down a couple levels, walking around the floors as I went. I loved the little nooks on each floor. I found a nice cozy spot on the 4th floor, in front of a fireplace. Ahhh...

There was some noise from the lobby and from the Whispering Canyon Cafe, which is right off the lobby, but it was still very relaxing. I got sleepy, sitting by that fire and warming up, so I decided to move before I dozed off. I headed for the Roaring Fork for lunch, the WL's quick service restaurant.

I liked the set-up for the Roaring Fork, though the area to order and pick up food was very small in comparison with the Landscape of Flavors at AOA. But then AOA only has the food court, and WL has other restaurants besides Roaring Fork.

Here's my lunch:

The beef and bean chili was delicious. It hit the spot. The wilderness salad was also excellent, but I could have done without the croutons. I barely ate them, they were flavored and overpowered the rest of the salad. The sugar cookie was yummy, just how I like it - crispy around the edges and soft in the middle, and not too sweet.

It was time to brave the cold. We somehow ended up on an open boat but passed this nice enclosed boat... jealous!

It was a very gloomy day. Our captain was all bundled up.

We docked at the MK, and I hurried off, excited to enter my first park of the day (and to find gloves!). I had a plan for the rest of the day, but as tended to be the theme for this trip, not everything went according to plan...

Next up... I rediscover a childhood favorite, two favorite rides are down, and I try out the FP+ kiosks (more than once!).

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds like a great morning exploring the hotels! That gingerbread display at GF is amazing!

GF is the only MK resort I've been to ... I definitely need to check out the rest of them. The WL pictures look beautiful!

 

[dreamseeker9]

Sounds like a great morning exploring the hotels! That gingerbread display at GF is amazing!

GF is the only MK resort I've been to ... I definitely need to check out the rest of them. The WL pictures look beautiful!

It was a great and relaxing morning!

Definitely check out the other resorts. I didn't go to the Poly since the lobby and other parts were under construction, but I can't wait to check out the new Trader Sam's bar this September! WL was amazing. I highly recommend checking it out! I also want to check out Fort Wilderness one of these days.

 

[hokieinpa]

I love that mirror in your room - all the details in the LM rooms are great!

I had to laugh as I watched people walking toward MK with shorts and t-shirts on, already shivering... clearly, they hadn't checked the forecast and only brought clothes for warm weather. They were in a for a long and cold day!

This was totally us in October. One day it was 85 and the next day it was 50. I had only packed sweatshirts - no pants. We were FREEZING! I bought the boys $30 sweatpants in the AOA shop that day but it was worth it!

I've heard mixed reviews of The Wave. I'm debating between that and Kona for a breakfast ADR. I think the Tonga Toast at Kona will win out!

Your tour of the monorail resorts sounds great! I've never been to the GF or WL. Both look beautiful in their own way! I've read about that 4th floor fireplace at WL in lots of TRs - it looks like the perfect place to spend a chilly morning!

Excited to hear about your day at MK!